Contact our friendly team to find out more.
Location: BlueScope Steel Innovation Labs, NSW
Product: M80 (8m) PowerStack vertical solar power pole, running a Bosch Autodome IP Camera, VCA Bullet Camera and an industrial 4G router
Date/Year: 2024
Project Partners: BlueScope Steel, Lawrence & Hanson, Bosch
Project: The team at BlueScope wanted to deploy camera and communication technologies outside their NSW Innovation Labs location. The goal was to increase the usability and safety of the site for visitors and staff. As one of Australia’s biggest manufacturers, this is a large BlueScope site, which supports local manufacturing in the Illawarra, and sees hundreds of visitors across the year, not to mention staff coming and going everyday.
The Labs are adjacent to the BlueScope Steelworks on Old Port Kembla Road, so this was a location where there was existing electrical infrastructure, that could have been accessed.
Challenge: Whilst grid supply was accessible nearby, it would still have required expensive and time-consuming works to extend this to the desired location for the cameras. So the team were looking for something off-grid. They also wanted this be a fixed install, but one that could also be moved to another location on the complex as needed.
The solution: The BlueScope team had used the PowerStack Vertical Solar Pole technology at another site on their complex previously. So they knew how the solar power poles could be installed quickly and efficiently.
The previous pole (pictured), was running IoT sensors and communications technology. As PowerStack is technology and brand agnostic, it was simply a matter of choosing the right pole design to run the two cameras and communications technology they’d chosen for this site.
BlueScope worked with the PowerStack team, and Lawrence & Hanson, to design and select the right pole configuration, along with a concrete-free foundation solution. It was this aspect that made the pole semi-mobile. It could be relocated as needed, to meet BlueScope’s requirements for this project.
The concrete-free foundation uses a stainless steel base, bolted to the PowerStack’s baseplate, which is then anchored into the ground using micro-piles. With this solution, the team has the option to detach the pole from the foundation, and move it to another location. Something that wouldn’t be anywhere near as easy if they were using concrete foundations.
The M80 pole was installed using this concrete-free option, with a team using just hand operated battery tools and the PowerStack PowerGin Winch. The whole process took just a couple of hours, a huge time saving on other power supply alternatives.
PowerStack poles start at 1m bollards and go up to 8m systems currently. Whilst smaller poles can be hand-lifted into position, the M50 (5m) and above poles can be erected using a specially design PowerStack PowerGin Winch system. This has been custom engineered to bolt onto the PowerStack base, and uses a battery operated hand drill to activate the winch.
It means the PowerStack systems can be installed in just a few hours per pole, with a small team and hand operated battery tools. Much simpler than installing a concrete foundation, and quicker too. Plus, when you’re looking for a flexible option, the concrete-free foundation (CFF) used with the winch system makes PowerStack a mobile solar power pole. As you can simply leave the old CFF in the ground and use the winch to quickly lower and remove the pole to move to another site.
Watch below to see a quick overview of how the installation process works.
We wanted a way to get powered infrastructure up and running in a cost effective and timely way. Ideally in a format that was mobile so we could move it easily and test gear at another site when needed. We’d used PowerStack before so it was the obvious choice for this project.”
PowerStack is essentially a micro-grid that an be installed anywhere with enough vertical sun hours. It provides sustainable, solar powered DC electrical supply for a whole range of applications.
The system is modular, so depending on your chosen site location and required power draw, you simply add more solar panels and batteries to the pole. And each system is recommended by the PowerStack team, based on the lowest annual sun hours for your location. This means you’re assured reliable operation on the shortest day of the year, and every other day around it.
PowerStack is also technology and brand agnostic. Which gives integrators and end users full choice over type of camera, luminaire, communications device, or other electrical infrastructure the run off the pole. This also makes the system applicable for a huge number of different functions. Everything from IoT network deployment and CCTV cameras, to emergency help points or bollard lighting.
PowerStack vertical solar can be used to power a number of different technologies including security cameras, IoT sensors, lighting, help points and wi-fi networks. Aside from reliable power supply, vertical solar has numerous benefits for both the integrator and the end user. Here are a few of the key features that made PowerStack a standout for this project.
Reliable green energy that enables power supply in areas that grid power can’t reach. Providing 24/7 uptime, totally off-grid.
Rugged, weatherproof design with shatterproof, fire resistant, glassless solar panels.
100% off-grid electrical energy supply, more sustainable than the grid and coal-fired power.
Brand and technology agnostic, giving choice and flexibility to the designer and end user, in function and finished look.
Contact our friendly team to find out more.