Contact our friendly team to find out more.
Location: Boat ramps and adjacent carparks across Mackay Regional Council area
Product: M60-4LP4 PowerStack 6m pole with 1 or 2 large panels all 4 sides, for solar powered lighting and monitoring applications
Date/Year: 2021
Project Partners: Mackay Regional Council, Roy Powell Security (integration), plus technology providers
Project: Mackay Regional Council were looking to deploy additional illumination and ideally CCTV cameras at a number of boat ramps in the council area. They also wanted this technology for the adjacent car parks, with the aim to increase safety and usability for visitors and users. The Council team contracted Roy Powell Security to deliver the project.
Challenge: Without access to power, any solution would need to be off-grid. The area was also prone to cyclones, so the team were looking for a pole that was rugged enough to withstand these conditions, even with foundations that would need to be installed in fairly loose, sandy soil.
As an additional challenge for this project, the area was known as a breeding ground for sea turtles, so the Council team needed to ensure that any installation or the resulting illumination didn’t negatively impact the local turtle population.
The solution: The integrators suggested PowerStack as a way to get remote power generation to the site and run luminaires and CCTV cameras. The 100% off-grid vertical solar power poles are technology agnostic, so the chosen luminaires, which featured sensor technology and other functions to make them ‘turtle safe’, could be easily integrated with the PowerStack system.
The same flexibility also meant the PowerStack system could comfortably run the chosen CCTV cameras and communications devices selected by the Council and Integrator teams.
66 PowerStack poles were installed across the 7 boat ramp and car park sites. Fifty three of the poles were running solar powered wildlife friendly lighting, and a further 13 power CCTV and 4G communications.
The end result was much needed electrical infrastructure, delivered in a sustainable way. Off-grid power that meant there was no need for the disruptive ground works and heavy vehicle access that are typical of accessing grid supply. A win for the project and the local wildlife.
In this project, the method of installation was doubly important. Not only did the Council want to minimise disruption to the turtle population, but they needed something that could withstand the heavy rainfall and potential cyclones common to Mackay’s tropical climate.
Given the sandy soil profile, heavy rain could impact in-ground concrete footings and plinths would have required heavy machinery. The solution was a concrete-free foundation, that PowerStack has been engineered to work easily with. The ‘tree-root’ like system of micro-piles that are jack-hammered into the ground act to the secure pole, even in loose ground profiles. The system can also be erected using minimal tools and manpower, thus minimising disruption as much as possible.
Additionally, PowerStack’s glassless solar modules and hardwearing aluminium extrusion mean it is well place to withstand extremes of weather. This was a further deciding factor in choosing PowerStack over grid supply or other solar alternative in this project.
PowerStack’s unique, award-winning design maximises sun capture by harvesting through integrated vertical panels on all 4 sides of the pole. This means it’s capturing sunlight from first thing in the morning, to sunset, throughout the whole year.
Each system is designed for the required power draw and the sunlight hours for the site location, calculated on mid-winter sun hours for that site. This ensures reliable power for your chosen application, even on the shortest day of the year.
PowerStack is also technology and brand agnostic. It’s modular design means real flexibility with what and how you mount third party devices to the pole. This makes the system applicable for a huge range of different functions. Everything from IoT network deployment 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.