While Boston’s historic gas-powered street lamps still need to be lit, the 21st century lamplighter looks a lot different then our friend pictured above.
Last week, Michael Doyle and his colleagues from the Boston Public Works Street Lighting Division installed 12 new solar-assisted gas light fixtures on Marlborough Street. This is a test of a new technology designed to save money by having gas street lights turn on when needed, rather than remain on 24 hours a day.
Here’s a closer look at the system as it was being installed. The solar panel charges a battery. A photo sensor tells the system when light is needed, and a control opens the gas valve and lights the lamp. In daylight, the control turns off the gas.
This crew had just come from Thompson Square in Charlestown where they’d installed 8 similar units. According to the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge, the plan to give a solar assist to hundreds of gas lamps throughout the city of Boston is expected to save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Officials claim the lamp’s battery can last almost 3 weeks without sunlight and won’t need replacing for at least 5 years. Now, that's a Lamplighter!
Learn more about Boston’s solar-assisted gas lamp project at Going Greener: Gas Lamps Grow More Efficient from the Charlestown Patriot-Bridge.
What's on your energy efficient shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino
Illustration: courtesy of the Library of Congress
Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.