First Light Technologies Ltd., a leading designer of architectural-quality, integrated solar lighting products for pedestrian applications, is pleased to announce that it has designed and installed 300 solar LED bollards for a high-profile client: Atlantis on Paradise Island.
"We successfully designed these lights from the ground up to meet Kerzner International's unique demand for a solar-powered light that would fit a high-end architectural aesthetic, be unobtrusive and yet provide sufficient lighting," said Sean Bourquin, First Light Technologies managing director and co-founder.
The lights, used for landscape lighting and way finding applications around the resort, replaced existing lights.
Because electricity prices at the resort are $0.37 per kilowatt-hour (versus typically $0.12 per kWh in the U.S.) and all electricity is generated via diesel fuel, it was important that the new lights be solar powered to cut down on operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions. A savings of 78,840 kilowatt hours per year is projected.
First Light Technologies worked with the resort's facilities and operations teams to meet these design challenges and was able to design, implement, test, manufacture and ship all of the lights within 12 weeks - completing all the work on time and budget.
The resulting design is a robust, completely self-contained, solar-powered LED bollard that will operate reliably under virtually any environmental condition, for years on end with no electrical consumption, bulb changes or other maintenance or operational costs. First Light's proprietary Energy Management System (EMS) technology ensures continued operation even in cases of low-solar weather patterns or unusual charging conditions.
The First Light bollards offer several advantages over the existing lights, such as more environmentally robust construction; improved cost savings; improved lumen output; improved light distribution; improved light color temperature, and increased intelligence with self-learning, adaptive capabilities (patent pending)
Also, since the lights are completely self-contained, they require no trenching or wiring. "The installation was easy," stated Greg Mazor of Service Electric Limited. "Our team was able to install 300 solar LED lights efficiently and on time."
First Light Technologies recently released this design-build product for other markets as its WLB Series Solar LED Bollard, an ideal light for all low-level architectural, commercial way finding and landscaping applications.
"Following on the heels of our PLB Series Solar LED Bollard launch, this offering continues our commitment to bring simple, effective self-contained solar-powered lighting to a market with an accelerating demand for such environmentally friendly and cost-saving innovations," said Bourquin.
According to McKinsey & Company, the $13 billion (2010) market for outdoor and architectural lighting will grow to $18 billion by 2016, while LED lighting is expected to outperform the general lighting market with a CAGR of 34 percent from 2010 to 2016.
"Energy efficiency is the driving force that will contribute the most powerfully to the upcoming discontinuity in the lighting industry," states the report, driving LEDs' share of the general lighting market to grow from seven percent to 70 percent by 2020.
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