Sustainable City Lights by Philips Design Yanko Design (http://www.yankodesign.com/2010/02/23/smart-street-lights-know-how-to-bloom/)

The street lights in my area have a mind of their own and flicker into life on whim. So when I hear of concepts like the Sustainable City Lights, it makes me go green with envy. It’s not asking too much for an intelligent lighting system that harnesses the solar and wind energy for itself. Lampposts intuitive enough to beam up the LEDs only when people are around, else emit a soft glow! Ah, Wishful Thinking

Adapting itself to the environment, Sustainable City Lights mimic the opening and closing of a flower bud while harvesting the energies. Any surplus accumulated goes back to the main grid for powering other city things…

What do you guys think about having something like this around downtown?

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SustainableCityLights.jpg

Killer. Would definitely like to see that in Project 180 and Central Park.

Why waste the energy to open and close the solar collectors?

Yeah, seems like it would be better to have the panels exposed all the time and not waste the energy.

The pics from the link seem to show the 'flowers' facing different directions.... like a real plant following the sun... that would make sense.

The pics from the link seem to show the 'flowers' facing different directions.... like a real plant following the sun... that would make sense.

I understand that opening and closing would mimic 'some' real flowers, but it isn't like solar panels produce all kinds of surplus energy. The barely produce enough to operate for their intended purpose. It seems to me that having a 'green energy' piece of equipment wasting energy for aesthetics is counterproductive.

They could be a cool thing for the C2S park......

Kerry.... solar farms follow the sun.

Kerry.... solar farms follow the sun.

Now something like that would make sense if the enegy spent in movement was less than the gain in energy derived from the movement. The solar panels in a solar farm don't fold up at night do they? <- that is an honest question, not a wise crack.

Personally, I would like to see lights in C2S use wind power from a wind generator in the park or along the river. I think they look pretty cool.

http://www.rogerwendell.com/images/photography/weatherford_oklahoma_wind_farm_05-13-2006.jpg

If they operate slow enough, with a small draw type of motor it shouldn't be an issue.

Personally, I would like to see lights in C2S use wind power from a wind generator in the park or along the river. I think they look pretty cool.


Hey, why not? That's a good idea - or put the windmill by the river.

Hey, why not? That's a good idea - or put the windmill by the river.

It would be a good idea as long as they're not in areas where people would be close or want to congregate. The noise would be a definite issue and could ruin a peaceful day at the river.

Could they put a small windmill on the top of each light post. They would generate power night and day and during times when lights are needed the most, like during a storm, they would operate at peak efficiency with minimal risk of a power outage.

How much noise do these large windwills make? I have never been close to one. Are they noiser than a constant 20 mph wind blowing through trees?

Well and besides the noise, you have to leave enough room around them so that if one falls, it won't hit something...or that thing doesnt block the wind.

The wind farms are wicked awesome as a sight, and how cool would that be in an urban area? We see them in rural areas, becuase of land costs, but it would be cool.

Well and besides the noise, you have to leave enough room around them so that if one falls, it won't hit something...or that thing doesnt block the wind.

The wind farms are wicked awesome as a sight, and how cool would that be in an urban area? We see them in rural areas, becuase of land costs, but it would be cool.

I think they would look awesome located right in the middle of the river. Since these would only be for lighting up a small portion of downtown they wouldn't need to be near as big. Talk about iconic.

http://www.heatingoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/offshorewindturbines.jpg

I love this idea! They could represent how our city has bloomed into a big league city!

Sustainable...ugh...very tired of that word.

Sustainable...ugh...very tired of that word.

I'm not so interested in 'sustainability' either but I sure like the idea of free eletricity after the intial investment is made, especially when it is tax dollars that have to keep paying the electric bill.

Could they put a small windmill on the top of each light post. They would generate power night and day and during times when lights are needed the most, like during a storm, they would operate at peak efficiency with minimal risk of a power outage.

How much noise do these large windwills make? I have never been close to one. Are they noiser than a constant 20 mph wind blowing through trees?

The noise isn't unbearable but it's certainly not something you would want near a residential or recreational area. You can't compare it to the wind because it's a constant repeating sound making it very annoying.

YouTube - Wind Turbine Shadow Flicker and Noise, Byron Wisconsin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyOImGHyJtQ)

oh my gosh.. that shadow flicker would get reallllllllllly annoying!

I think they would look awesome located right in the middle of the river. Since these would only be for lighting up a small portion of downtown they wouldn't need to be near as big. Talk about iconic.

http://www.heatingoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/offshorewindturbines.jpg

Hmmmm, how would that work with the drag boat races, olympic training events etc?

Well and besides the noise, you have to leave enough room around them so that if one falls, it won't hit something...or that thing doesnt block the wind.

The wind farms are wicked awesome as a sight, and how cool would that be in an urban area? We see them in rural areas, becuase of land costs, but it would be cool.

Think you just answered your own question....

Hmmmm, how would that work with the drag boat races, olympic training events etc?

Drag boat racing and the olympic training events don't take place along the entire river, just the lower section. 2/3 of the river isn't even used yet other the Devon boats.

Just watched the video - what in the wind turbine is making the sound? Is it the wind going across the blades or the motor turning. Not to doubt the guys problems but the door creakling at the 5:40 mark is WAY louder than the turbines. However, having that sound at night would be hard. I guess I need to hear one for myself. The flicker thing would suck as well but that would only be for a little while each day as the shadows move.

Not a wind expert, not even a novice, but I seem to recall reading these wind farms can't simply be plopped on just any available space. Absence of sustained winds renders them useless, as does too much wind.

I couldn't see them perched in a row in the river downtown.

Whether smaller ones at the park would be dollar wise, I simply dunno.

See, now I don't know whom to believe because I find videos like this. You can barley hear the wind turbine in this video and the camera is right at the base of it.

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Wait, wait, wait - this one is better and made me laugh (caution, due to language content might not be appropriate for children).

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YwcJEqOwKxs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YwcJEqOwKxs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

How about a large wind turbine / viewing tower?

One that people could go up iside of it and go to the top for a viewing platform.

Also we could add LED lights to it and make it some kind of light spinning show. People would see all of it at night from miles away.

Just watched the video - what in the wind turbine is making the sound? Is it the wind going across the blades or the motor turning. Not to doubt the guys problems but the door creakling at the 5:40 mark is WAY louder than the turbines. However, having that sound at night would be hard. I guess I need to hear one for myself. The flicker thing would suck as well but that would only be for a little while each day as the shadows move.

Your door creaking might be louder but that doesn't happen nonstop 24 hours a day. If it did, you would be oiling the squeak or getting a new door.

Maybe they could put them on top of the downtown buildings. Then our skyscrapers would be even taller! :bright_id:LolLolLol

-Chris-