St. Louis Park is poised to become the first city in the nation to provide city-wide, solar-powered, WiFi.
The service, (FAQ) which could start as soon as next fall if approved as expected, would be powered by about 400 solar panels — each about the size of a stop sign — suspended 20 to 30 feet in the air on public rights-of-way such as roadsides. The panels would connect to batteries storing the solar power and to radio nodes that would send and receive signals from computers.
The solar panels and batteries are designed to recharge even on cloudy days, said Tom Asp, lead engineer for the city’s consulting firm, Columbia Telecommunications Corp.
“The company that designs these solar panels has been doing this for more than 10 years,” Asp said, adding that the technology has been proven to be “extremely reliable.” Unlike conventional wireless networks, he said, the solar-powered system does not have to be connected to the main electrical grid. Solar power for wireless Internet service has been used before in limited applications, such as in downtown Boulder, Colo., but never citywide, Asp said
“It’s a cost-saving alternative to traditional powering resources,” Pires said. “We’re expecting to save $40,000 to $50,000 a year by using solar and avoiding standard electricity.”
St. Louis Park (pop: 45,000), 10-sq miles, expects to enter a public-private partnership with ARINC of Maryland, which would install, run and maintain the system’s infrastructure, with an initial investment of $3.3 million from the city. St. Louis Park also is negotiating with Internet provider Unplugged Cities of Fridley.
“We are excited at the possibility of being the first in the nation to deploy a solar-powered citywide Wi-Fi network,” said Clint Pires, director of technology and support services for St. Louis Park.
The City Council is expected to vote Nov. 6 on final approval for the project.
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What’s Wrong with WiMAX? How much would a solar-powered WiMAX/WiFi hotspot on a pole cost? Probably less than $65K a mile. Sprint and Clearwire licensed WiMAX may cost less to deploy than muni WiFi mesh networks. They cover more area and provide roaming for $30-$40 month.  Huge WiFi networks, with all their backhaul requirements, seem risky and expensive by comparison. But Wi-Fi service can still be delivered cheaper than DSL — and everyone has WiFi on their laptops, already.  Now WiMAX is on its way. Use it for backhaul of (802.11n) hotspots. Then solar power the whole thing. |
Solar Power 2006, this week in San Jose, featured 100 speakers and special events. Google News has more.
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