It is a dark and stormy night in Washington state. Rain pours down as a commuter approaches their usual bus stop. There is something different this time - the bus shelter is illuminated. Light spills onto the sidewalk, bright like a beacon. The passenger steps inside as the sun dips below the horizon, embracing the cover overhead and improved visibility.
The passenger thinks back to when the lights had not been installed. Several times buses have passed by without seeing them, or they waited with an uneasy feeling of who or what may be in the shadows of the shelter. Tonight is different. The commuter feels safe as they wait. The bus’s headlights begin to break through the misty evening and as the bus approaches, it begins to slow down. The driver sees the glowing shelter and the passenger inside and pulls over to pick them up. Hopping on board, the rider is thankful to be dry, but more importantly, grateful to have been seen.
How POWER Supports Urban Solar
Public transit plays an important role in many Americans’ lives by offering reliable transportation, especially in densely populated cities. Urban Solar is a company with offices in the United States and Canada that designs and manufactures bus stop lighting and driver signaling solutions to improve safety, rider visibility, and accessibility – just like the scenario described above. Urban Solar provides lighting solutions including transit pole lighting and bus stop shelter lighting. The company utilizes NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project data to support solar analysis and guide sustainable infrastructure decision making.
Urban Solar uses POWER’s December minimums, which are the lowest expected solar energy outputs of the year, to identify the worst-case solar energy scenarios for a certain location. With this information, Urban Solar is better able to determine the size of a solar system for a given site, eliminating the guesswork and confidently providing its customers with reliable solutions. Urban Solar Business Development Manager, Eric Bracke, said, “POWER data has allowed us to reliably deploy solar systems to bus stops across North America.”
Urban Solar has successfully implemented over 25,000 solar-powered lighting solutions across North America with the assistance of NASA POWER. Urban Solar’s solar-powered bus stops can be found in major cities such as Seattle, Washington; San Diego, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; New York City; and London, England. King County Metro, which includes Seattle, is one of Urban Solar’s largest customers in the United States. Throughout the relationship, King County worked with Urban Solar to implement over 900 solar-powered shelters, lighting solutions, and signage projects. The map below shows Urban Solar installations across the United States, demonstrating the breadth of infrastructure enhancements Urban Solar supports with the help of POWER data.
One of Urban Solar’s manufacturing partners, Tolar Manufacturing based out of California, works with the company on solar-powered bus stop projects to prevent costly connections to existing power services and provide lighting solutions to boost safety and deter crime at stops. In this partnership, Urban Solar utilizes POWER data to provide analyses and recommendations for solar power and infrastructure while Tolar Manufacturing provides the infrastructure for select locations.
“NASA is helping people connect communities and POWER is helping people do their daily [tasks],” said Executive Vice-President at Tolar Manufacturing, Patrick Merrick.
The End User
NASA POWER data impacts the daily lives of those who use public transit by supporting Urban Solar in its mission to improve visibility, safety, and traffic in a reliable and cost-effective way. So, the next time you see a solar-powered bus stop or transit pole system, NASA POWER may have helped to make it possible.