Lanterns in Las Vegas powered by the energy of the sun and pedestrian steps

Las Vegas is famous for its lights, bright sunny days and an abundance of pedestrians. In fact, this city is perfect for New York-based startup EnGoPlanet to test new LED street lights.

On the Las Vegas Strip, the team installed four Smart Street Lights , powered by solar and kinetic energy. Photovoltaic panels and footpaths do not just light the lights, but also activate surveillance cameras and portable charging stations.
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On the pole there are two USB ports to which you can connect a smartphone. Judging by the promotional images, the storage chamber is not provided. Pedestrians are forced to stand nearby and monitor their device. If you have a second device with you, you can connect to a Wi-Fi access point and brighten up the waiting time.



The system uses curved photovoltaic panels to charge the battery, which powers energy-saving LED street lamps at night. In those rare days when the sun is hiding behind clouds, the kinetic tiles installed in the walkways are used. They are connected to three microgenerators, and, depending on the step pressure, can produce from 4 to 8 watts of electricity.



Four lanterns are equipped with a variety of sensors. They collect detailed information about what many people usually ignore. The EnGoPlanet promo video lists some additional features: environmental monitoring, air quality monitoring, video surveillance, and comprehensive smart analytics. In addition, the color of LED lighting can be changed depending on the season or on the eve of holidays.


The undoubted advantage can be considered environmental technology. According to EnGoPlanet, municipalities around the world spend about 40 billion dollars on powering street lamps. In the process of generating electricity only for these needs, 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are produced annually.

According to the company, the technology will significantly reduce costs and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. At the same time, the company estimates that 1.4 billion people do not have access to public coverage. In a number of developing countries, electricity costs too much. Not to mention the poorest regions. EnGoPlanet believes that in such cases, “smart” lights could be an excellent alternative. The downside is that when the usual analog lights are replaced with energy-saving ones, people everywhere will be monitored by a private company.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman intends to create conditions for a favorable life with the help of LEED-certified buildings, solar energy projects, water recovery, alternative power sources for vehicles and energy-efficient street lamps. Therefore, the project EnGoPlanet well fit into the innovation strategy of the city.

Petar Mirovich, the company's general director, said that he does not plan to stop there. In addition to Las Vegas, he intends to implement large projects in cities such as New York. “We believe that this can be a good substitute or an alternative to traditional lanterns,” he says.

In addition to "smart" lanterns, the company also produces other eco-friendly products for the urban environment. Among them are "solar benches" ( Solar Bench ). As the name implies, such a bench is powered by solar energy. It powers Wi-Fi and portable charging for a smartphone. But unlike the lanterns, the bench has a two-sided backlit display on which you can place ads, city data, maps or any other information.

Of course, EnGoPlanet is not the only player that today is developing energy-efficient devices and technologies that use renewable energy sources. Most recently, Tesla introduced its roof panels for the roofs of the Solar roof, which in their appearance do not differ from the traditional ones. Is that they can generate electricity, fed by solar energy. Scientists, too, do not waste time and work on the creation of cheap wood floor panels that can generate electricity from the steps. A New York-based startup has combined these two technologies together and successfully implemented its project.

During the last decades, mankind has been observing an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Over the past 58 years, the average concentration of CO ₂ in the atmosphere has increased from 315 parts per million units of volume in 1958 to 404 in 2016 . Increasing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere threaten to lead to increased greenhouse effect and global climate change. In order to at least reduce the speed of development of these phenomena, many companies are looking for ways to replace the usual sources of energy derived from the burning of minerals.