Construction BUSINESS

Irish company Airsynergy’s wind and solar powered off-grid Remote Power Unit (RPU) has become the very first renewable hybrid streetlight to be installed in the Caribbean island country of Grenada.

“We are excited that our revolutionary, award-winning technology is making history. Our aim and mission is to provide people almost anywhere with a reliable, affordable renewable power source which, until now, has been only a dream. This first for Grenada will help make people more aware of what is possible,” Jim Smyth, CEO of Airsynergy.

The hybrid streetlight made history following a collaborative pilot project between New York-based Aris Wind – the company licensed to sell Airsynergy products in the US and the Caribbean – and local Caribbean operator Grenlec Utilities.

“As we sought demonstration sites, end users and partners throughout the Caribbean Islands, Grenada’s strong wind and sun resource made it a perfect place to start our Caribbean launch and we are delighted that Grenlec Utilities embraced the project,” said Gerry Ryan, CEO of Aris Wind.

The off grid RPU powers an 80-watt LED bulb with inbuilt battery storage lasting up to five days.

Once the preparation work in laying the foundation was set, the RPU was installed within a few hours as a result of tilt up tower technology that sees the entire unit lifted by a crane and slotted into position.

“Aris will propose additional off-grid hybrid street lights for the island and, when ready, the demonstration of our new Total Energy Solution (TES) – an advanced on or off grid wind/solar power generation unit with optional water harvesting to power homes and small businesses,” added Ryan.

In recent month’s Airsynergy’s RPUs have been installed in a number of operating locations in New York including an athletic field and corporate headquarters in Mount Vernon, an elementary school and public housing facility in Tarrytown where 3,000 commuters see the streetlight daily and a public street in Breezy Point, which was devastated in the wake of storm Sandy.

An additional 20 prominent sites have been confirmed for the RPU in New York, Chicago, California, Florida and New England.  Further installations in the Caribbean and South America have also been confirmed for 2016.

Unlike others, the wind-solar hybrid remote power unit works in many challenging urban locations to provide reliable off-grid power, suitable for lighting, water pumping and potentially other critical applications such as CCTV and cell phone charging stations.

The unit serves as a critical power service as in times of emergency and power outages its lights keep shining or it keeps producing power given it does not need to be connected to the grid and has battery storage lasting for days.

The RPU is ideal for providing reliable, independent light on roadways, walkways, parking lots and recreation areas and also for providing power for the agricultural sector.

Added design capabilities mean the streetlight can showcase company branding or be utilised for advertising which can be displayed via a renewably powered LED screen, bringing a possible additional source of revenue to end users.

Airsynergy is a privately owned renewable energy product development and licensing company, founded in 2008 by Jim Smyth, Andrew Smyth, Gerard Smyth, Peter Smyth, David Smyth, and Adrian Kelly. The company is based in Granard, county Longford, Ireland.