Federal Heath Integrates Solar Power Into Signage Offerings

Solar Energy was first discovered more than 100 years ago; since then, photovoltaic power technology continues to advance each year. Light capturing panel technology and the battery systems that store photo-derived power have evolved today into nearly 70% efficiency.

Federal Heath recently worked with Martin-Harris Construction to provide Inspirada, an expanding community in Southern Las Vegas, with a number of monument and directional signs incorporating solar powered technology.

Federal Heath’s Innovation Team worked alongside Solar Signs Unplugged, a solar power technology provider in Kansas City, Missouri, to acquire and install solar panels and the accompanying systems within signs throughout the Inspirada community. Every sign contained a solar system that was engineered to accommodate the exact number of LEDs within the sign, and was capable of storing enough power to ensure that these LEDs could stay illuminated for a minimum of six hours even after three days of overcast weather.

Some major advantages of solar provided-energy for signage are:

  • Provide lighting without the need for standard utility power
  • No trenching required for utility power provides significant upfront cost savings
  • No electricity costs for the life of the sign
  • Flexibility of solar allows for a variety of installation configurations
  • Reinforces a brand’s “green” image

“Today, solar energy provides five-tenths of 1 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States. While the amount of utility-scale solar electricity capacity in the US has increased in recent years—rising from 334 megawatts in 1997 to 13,406 megawatts in 2015, it still only accounts for 0.6% of net utility-scale electricity generated in the United States – the least among the renewable sources of hydroelectric, biomass, wind and solar. However, if rooftop solar panels and other solar lighting in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors were included in the generation statistics, total solar generated electricity in the US would represent a larger, but still small share. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates distributed solar capacity at 8,379 megawatts in 2015 and distributed solar generation as 12,141 million kilowatt hours. Once EIA includes distributed solar in their statistics, solar power’s share of generation should increase to 0.9 percent.”

Source: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/topics/encyclopedia/solar/#_ftn1

Solar signs (depending on configuration) are capable of saving more than 75% of traditional signage costs over the life of the product. Federal Heath and its solar technology partners can customize sun-powered options for any project, regardless of scope.