Innovation and solutions abound during this satellite adventure to Australia. The Managing Director of Leadsun takes us on his journey to discovery. Sensing that technology and cost improvements could be achieved, Matt Pollard maps out how teamwork and determination met this chin-rubbing challenge. Join our engaging guest as this true gentleman unveils solar lighting and inspires future innovators.
A new Heart Foundation study has revealed that Australians overwhelmingly want to live locally in walkable neighbourhoods close to parks.
The survey also found that a sense of safety is high on one of the the priority list for Australians when deciding where to live.
The results from the survey is contained in the report What Australia Wants: Living locally in walkable neighbourhoods, which surveyed 2895 everyday Australians nationwide, gathers community sentiment.
The director of Heart Foundation said:” the ability to ‘live locally’ is enabled by having a neighbourhood where the things that you need such as fresh, healthy food, safe neighbourhood streets, and daily destinations are near your home, ideally in walking distance.”
Also, he said the survey found that:
The research on what makes neighbourhoods desirable, liveable and healthy – all set within the Healthy Active by Design framework and principles. It is a website created by the Heart Foundation to highlight how best-practice planning and design of buildings, streets, towns, and cities can improve Australian’s cardiovascular health.
Leadsun brings SMART solar street lighting into all Australian municipalities – affordably and efficiently. If you are looking for an environmentally friendly, commercial, and dependable solar street lighting solutions to enhance your community’s public spaces, just get in touch with us today.
“Community-led projects like this really demonstrate the benefits of transitioning to renewable energy, not only for the community but also in building a sustainable energy future for us all” – Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio.
For more than ten years, the community had identified lighting the 1km path from the town’s center to their recreation reserve as a high priority project.
Safety concerns about people walking home next to a dark country road, particularly in the winter months, had always been a significant concern. However, the outdoor street lighting solution would also allow the community to expand the use of their facilities.
Reticulated lighting was just too expensive and needed to be installed entirely with various cables, whereas smart street lights offered a cheaper, more flexible, and more environmentally friendly solution in which poles could be installed individually as funding became available.
The community association raised an impressive $20,000 for the outdoor street lighting and was supported by the Latrobe City Council who contributed a further $20,000. The Latrobe Valley Authority granted a Community and Facility Fund worth $120,000 to complete the project in a single install.
“The new lighting benefits our members greatly! Occasionally training finishes late so parents take great comfort in the fact that there is plenty of light for junior members to safely travel home by.”
– Mark Maynard, Executive Member, Raiders Cricket Club.
“The LVA is pleased to work with our project partners and the Yinnar community to improve safety and accessibility between the township and the recreation reserve.”
-Karen Cain, CEO, Latrobe Valley Authority.
“It has been rewarding working with this community to overcome technical barriers and to realize a project that will benefit the local area for many years to come.”
-Chris Barfoot, Project Manager, Latrobe Valley Community Power Hub.
Lighting is a huge part of road safety, not only for cars and lighting black spots but also for visibility and the safety of pedestrians. With respect to pedestrians and roads in particular, according to Monash University research commissioned by walking health charityVictoria Walks, street lighting was identified as a potential issue that may help to reduce the risk of collisions at night time, with 11 percent of crashes that occur while it is dark take place in locations with no street lighting.
Lighting has been shown to be one of the most immediately impactful ways to boost both the actual and perceived safety levels of public spaces and roads. However, traditional electric lighting systems tend to present significant cost and logistical barriers due to roads and footpaths needing to be dug up for the required underground trenching and cabling. Within this context, SMART solar road lighting is the perfect solution for lighting dark spots on intersections, roundabouts, and pedestrian and cycling paths.
Research suggests there is a 35 percent reduction in road crashes when street lighting is implemented or improved.
Not only is smart solar road lighting a significantly more cost-effective solution due to there being no underground trenching and cabling required, but it also offers faster project turnaround times compared to grid-powered lights and flexibility as to where lights can be positioned. There are also clear environmental and social benefits – some might even say obligations – for governments to choose sustainable lighting sources moving forward.
Lit by the clean energy of the sun, Leadsun’s smart solar lighting is designed for local roads and is a sustainable solution ideal for increasing safety on poorly lit roads and intersections. These lights allow local councils, in particular, to be SMART city ready and meet growing community expectations that public space solutions minimize environmental impact. They also offer councils the freedom to connect and scale lighting solutions quickly, easily, and cost-efficiently.
As smart public lighting specialists working with local government and corporate partners since 2005, Leadsun is a leader in providing efficient, smart public lighting solutions that enhance the safety of communities across Australia and the world.
Leadsun is bringing SMART road lighting into all Australian municipalities – easily, affordably, and efficiently. If you are looking for a dependable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly solar lighting solution to enhance your community’s public spaces, get in touch with us today.
Street lighting assets around the world are being transformed with smart technologies to deliver increased safety, efficiency, productivity, and services. Leadsun’s FREEDOM urban solar lights are an integral part of this transformation.
Until now, our cities have relied on 19th-century grid-powered lighting systems. These have inflexible positioning and are costly to install due to extensive trenching and cabling, plus unpredictable, ongoing energy costs.
Leadusn’s Managing Director Matt Pollard recently had a chat with Ticker News about the environmental benefits that these street lights provide and how they are making a positive impact on the environments they illuminate.
This next-generation street lighting platform is supplied SMART CITY READY with remote monitoring and endless possibilities to connect IoT devices such as air quality sensors, pedestrian and vehicle counters, cameras, duress-button, Wi-Fi access points, and more.
These stylish, future-proofed lighting solutions are perfect for lighting streets, footpaths, parks, recreational areas, green space, car parks, and public venues.
In 2018, Leadsun formed a landmark partnership with a leading USA property developer who has successfully installed over 1,000 wireless controlled and monitored FREEDOM solar streetlights throughout two Master Planned Communities in Florida, with many more to be installed in the coming years.
Leadsun was invited to partner with the City of Melbourne’s Industrial Design Team to create a modern, innovative, and sustainable outdoor sculpture by converging Leadsun’s proprietary ‘All-In-One’ Solar + Battery + LED technologies into a spectacular tree-like sculpture that also demonstrates that we can power and light out cities with solar energy.
The Solar Tree is a big idea by Leadsun to help demonstrate the City of Melbourne’s ambitious target to become carbon neutral.
The tree provides the community with a place to rest, recharge their mobile devices whilst promoting a positive social impact ensuring our public spaces are Smarter, Sustainable, and Safer by harnessing the sun’s energy in a practical and functional way.
Did you know that although cities only cover 2% of the earth’s landmass, they use nearly 80% of the earth’s primary energy sources? Further to this, the biggest contributor to a municipality’s source of carbon emissions is from grid-connected public lighting infrastructure.
While our cities transition to renewable energy to replace existing fossil fuel electricity, the Solar Tree demonstrates the importance that collectively we must take simple steps to reduce our energy usage, not just in our homes and businesses but also in open public areas that require public lighting.
solar tree light for city of Melbourne
The Solar Tree isn’t just about technology, it’s also about sustainability and honouring the traditional and distinct nature of our municipality’s natural heritage by using reclaimed indigenous timber for the circular wooden seat located at its trunk.
The indigenous timber is selected by the local government and then hand-crafted and treated to look vibrant and elegant. It’s an important design element of the Solar Tree as it brings together both ‘nature & technology’ and the ‘past & the future’ all into one unique functional system.
The Solar Tree is a great landmark and a place to meet. With the timber seat able to accommodate three people, the Solar Tree has a convenient three-way built-in USB charger at its trunk inviting users and visitors to sit under the solar panels and charge their smart devices 24 hours a day for free!
The Solar Tree utilises Leadsun’s innovative and proprietary ‘All-In-One’ solar-powered energy systems. The entire system features a combination of three 80W ‘Solar-Engines’ that collects and captures energy from the sun into the built-in Lithium-Ion batteries to then power the LED lights & USB chargers.
The energy produced from the Solar Engines is then distributed through its branches into ultra-efficient LED lighting fixtures featuring motion-sensor and dimming capabilities. The Solar Tree provides a beacon of light throughout the evening for safety, whilst demonstrating new-energy technologies through its USB charging station located at its base.
The Solar Tree provides the perfect opportunity for municipalities to uniquely demonstrate their ambition for social & environmental leadership to the public as well as showcasing new-energy technologies in public spaces & pop-up parks powered by the limitless energy of the sun.
Experience the power for yourself and charge your phone in safety under the lights of the Solar Tree located in the beautiful grounds of Birrarung Marr. The lights illuminate the granite sand and provide a warm inviting glow for the community to use the Solar Tree in the evening.