Southern Shores Bring Focus to Sustainability Initiatives
- photo credit Ben Jamir
The Town of Southern Shores is making visible strides to becoming more sustainable. This week the new “Welcome to Southern Shores” sign, located on Route 158, was illuminated for the first time at night using a solar powered set of LED lights. This elegant, off grid solution will provide the sign with light for years to come with no cost to the Town after its initial installation investment.
“We wanted to make a statement about the Town of Southern Shores with this sign as our visitors come on to the Outer Banks,” states Town Manager, Peter Rascoe. “The solar LED lighting solution goes even farther to represent our goals as a Town. When visitors see the solar panel in proximity to the sign, it will tell them they welcome here and we are interested in being more sustainable and frugal.”
The Town’s facilities manager, Jason Sawyer has already made strides to move the Town on the path to sustainability. He has spent most of the winter switching out the mercury based lighting on Town property to LED lights which use less power and last for years. This will serve the Town through less labor and cost to replace lights over the long term and through lower power bills. As power prices rise over time, the Town will see even greater economic benefit.
The solar LED lighting solution is comprised of one solar panel that is used to store power in a battery. This battery powers four LED lights that have been specifically fabricated to withstand a harsh, marine environment and to be visually appealing as well.
Waldt Renewables worked closely with the Town of Southern Shores to make sure that the solution was exactly what the Town needed. As the leader in renewable solutions on the Outer Banks, Waldt Renewables has recently installed several successful solar and LED lighting solutions, including the sound side Boardwalk in the Town of Duck. “These solutions are ideal for people,municipalities and business that need lighting in places where traditional power sources are difficult and who want to leverage the long life span of LED lights,” suggests Claiborne Yarbrough of Waldt Renewables. “The fact that these solutions say something about a commitment to sustainability is an added
bonus.”
The Town of Southern Shores is considering placing additional solar powered LED lights on other Town property where traditional power would be cost prohibitive to introduce.
