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How Solar Lighting is Making a City More Resilient in the Face of Climate Change

First Light SCL2 Solar Luminaire

With climate change bringing more intense hurricanes to Florida’s shores, the City of Cape Canaveral is striving to be more sustainable and resilient. New city buildings are LEED equivalent, the city now opts for hybrid cars and, more recently, off-grid solar lights illuminate municipal facilities.

Sustainable Municipal Lighting

When the city’s water reclamation facility needed new lighting, Infrastructure Maintenance Supervisor Tim Carlisle began looking for a more resilient and sustainable solution.

 

“I am always looking into sustainable ideas and projects to help with not only our electric bills but also the city’s green footprint.”
Tim Carlisle

Infrastructure Maintenance Supervisor, City of Cape Canaveral, Florida

While looking for an environmentally friendly lighting solution for the facility, Tim found First Light’s SCL2 solar luminaires that had the performance and sustainability he was looking for.

With 52 First Light solar luminaires now installed, the facility’s outdoor lighting is 100% off-grid.

“The lighting is better than the electric lighting we had in place before!”
Tim Carlisle

Infrastructure Maintenance Supervisor, City of Cape Canaveral, Florida

The total energy savings by using solar lighting is 63,180 kWh per year.

Equivalent CO² emissions savings per year:

  • 109,237 miles driven by an average car
  • 5,027 gallons of gasoline consumed
  • 5.3 homes’ energy use for one year
  • 5,696,970 smartphone charges

First Light SCL2 Solar Luminaire

Resilient Municipal Lighting

The facility also serves as public works offices and as an operations center during emergencies. With solar lighting solutions, the facility can now ensure that the outdoor lights will always be on when needed, including when the power grid is out.

“The sustainability and resiliency of our assets is very important. Now that we are not attached to the power grid, we can maintain 24-hour operations during an emergency.”
Zachary Eichholz

Sustainability Analyst, City of Cape Canaveral, Florida

Cape Canaveral recently escaped the full force of hurricane Dorian but still experienced winds exceeding 50mph. All SCL2s remained fully operational. 

Bright, Reliable Lighting

Cape Canaveral continues to look for ways to minimize its footprint while maximizing value for residents. With the SCL2 Solar Pole Lights, the city gets reliable lighting for a key facility with upfront costs being 50% less without the need to install electrical wires. 

With current performance levels, the city is looking at other opportunities to install First Light solar lighting.

“We are really pleased with the brightness of the lights. A big misconception is that sustainable solar lights are dim.”
Zachary Eichholz

Sustainability Analyst, City of Cape Canaveral, Florida

First Light SCL2 Solar Luminaire

Interested to see if we can help with sustainable lighting for your community?

Tell us about your project and we’ll be in touch within one business day.