Waikiki Aquarium, HI

The Waikiki Aquarium, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, is over 115 years old. Throughout its rich history, they’ve been dedicated to showcasing native Hawaiian and Pacific marine flora and fauna to educate visitors. Their mission is understanding, appreciation and conservation of ocean life.

For the aquarium’s 110th anniversary, facility revitalization was prioritized. This included replacing the original lighting outside of the entrance. Installed in the 80’s, these lights were bulky outdated wired incandescent lamps. The wiring in both the fixtures and the ground was corroded and had reached the end of its service life, making replacement tricky.

Through our partners Solarcology Solar Bollards and Goldwings Supply Service, one of First Light Technologies’ PLB Series solar bollards was used as a trial to see how it would work. The original plan was to keep the poles of the original lighting fixtures, replacing only the heads with the PLB. However, during the evaluation, it was decided that the existing fixtures would be completely replaced with our full-size PLB Series bollard.

The result was a much more open and less congested entrance to the aquarium. The solar bollards were painted an ocean blue to match the rest of the aquarium’s existing lights. The PLB Series also had shielding installed to meet any future lighting ordinances and to ensure no light pollution as they are installed next to the ocean. As a community leader, the Waikiki Aquarium is committed to using sustainable technology, and solar was the perfect fit for that!