Solar powered, lamppost mounted WiFi/WiMax router and surveillance cam

A partnership between London-based sustainable development firm Kolam and Singapore-based networking expert Nex-G Systems has yielded a solar-powered WiFi router/WiMax router/surveillance cam that can be situated atop a streetlight (which is also solar-powered). The access point by StarSight uses a high gain omni antenna and a high gain parabolic antenna to provide access/security to both developed and developing regions; it is already in use in Cameroon, with plans for deployment to India, China, and Morocco.

[Via WorldChanging and BoingBoing]

[Samuel Lago @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

So what your telling me is that if I want to stop the eye-in-the-sky from working I just have to dammage the solar pannel?!!

You should see how street furniture is damaged without need already.

[ptrix @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

sounds like a good idea, but seeing as how the operation of the unit would deoend on the amount of sunlight it recieves, wouldn't that mean that it would be seriously underpowered at night, or during periods of unfavourable weather, (ie. rainy, overcast, foggy, etc)?

I mean, in all honesty, even when you only consider the solar-powered streetlight, wouldn't you be more likely to need that operational at times when it would be least likely to recieve the adequate sunlight necessary to power it?

- ptrix

[ptrix @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

deoend = depend

[sanman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

My understanding is that this product stores up the solar energy gathered during the day, to power the light later on at night. Solar lamp-posts are not absolutely new, and if you google you'll find a variety of suppliers. It's the combination of wireless that differentiates this product in a more useful way.

[EM @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Ugly but great.

[furtim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Dot dot dot, yo. See, we have these funky things called "rechargeable batteries"...

[ptrix @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

but rechargable batteries are only good for a limited number of charge cycles, and the system would most likely require a battery for each unit. I don't know the economies of the system, or if it's cheaper to have each WiFi router/WiMax router/surveillance cam/streetlight simply hooked into the main power grid, as opposed to having each unit essentially running off of solar/battery power (notwithstanding the maintainance costs in repairing damaged solar panels, replacing batteries after they are no longer able to store a charge, etc. etc.

I'm as environmentally conscious as the next guy, but I am aware that photovoltaic silicon technology is expensive and the energy cost savings are often insufficient to offset the capital costs. Access to the electricity grid is inexpensive in Singapore because the island is served by a comprehensive power cable network. Under typical circumstances, it not cost effective to light up the streets (and power multiple electronic devices at the same time off the same power source) with solar energy. For the same reason, it may not be financially viable to mount solar panels atop of hundreds of streetlights to provide electricity when the option of paying for grid-supplied electricity is much cheaper.

- ptrix

[furtim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Judging by the list of deployments, I think it's safe to say that this is intended for places without reliable power grids.

[E71 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

LOL. London-based group develop it but too bad for them they won't be able to use it in their home country because those limeys got no sunlight. Haha.

[sanman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

There are supercapacitors with unlimited charge-discharge cycle life, closed-loop regenerating fuel cells also have unlimited cycles. Clearly these lamp-posts are mean for where grid is not a convenient alternative.

[Cameradude @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Solar panelled street lamps pay for themselves if the climate is right. There are a bunch of them around Victoria Square and Mawson Lakes in Adelaide, Australia except they have managed to make theirs look a lot more elegant.

[Pete Cornish @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

"LOL. London-based group develop it but too bad for them they won't be able to use it in their home country because those limeys got no sunlight. Haha."

That's Hilarious. Ah. Have you ever used broadband in London? With recent WiMAX trials, we don't need this invention here. Frankly if they want to make their money abroad, what's the big deal?

[rashguards @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Solar powered street light surveillance cam with WiFi = brilliant. Anyone know the reach of the WiFi signal? Hopefully StarSight's 'high gain omni antenna' has a very powerful signal without interuptions or disconnect problems.

[Zig Ziegler @ Dec 19th 2005 2:38AM]

Regarding the strength of WiFi signals...industrial WiFi (802.11b) goes as far as 16 miles between links and can be repeated up to 16 times on the models I deal with. The strength of the system comes from laying it out as a self-healing network. This is obviously a great idea that will be misunderstood by many. For places without power, but requiring viewability, it's a very nice solution. I was wondering more about camera frame rate and radio output power. One Watt is the max allowable in North America without a license.