BUCKINGHAM SQUARE GOES SOLAR
22 Oct 2014
A successful solar lighting installation by Leadsun has not only improved safely but enhanced the overall appeal of a significant Melbourne landmark.
In July 2014, Leadsun Australia successfully installed solar lighting within the City of Greater Dandenong's iconic ‘Buckingham Square’ located in Melbourne's south eastern suburb of Springvale. The success of the lighting project has vastly improved safety and enhanced the evening appeal of the area, as well as benefiting local shop owners and the community as a whole.
Buckingham Square is centrally located and is a significant landmark within Springvale’s vibrant and thriving shopping community of Vietnamese, Chinese, Cambodian and Laotian migrants; it transforms from the unglamorous hustle and bustle of day time shopping to the evening where hundreds of diners visit the adjoining restaurants and eateries till late at night.
Prior to the installation, Buckingham Square had been without any form of lighting since its previous redevelopment and consequently, this had deterred people from accessing the unlit area in the evening due to issues with safety and the risk of crime.
The council sort a solar lighting solution in lieu of installing a far more costly mains powered lighting system which would have been extremely disruptive to nearby shop owners due to the extensive excavation works involved with installing underground wiring beneath the existing cobblestone paving; Leadsun’s solar lighting solution on the other hand was contained to smaller work areas without having to close the entire area off, the project was also fully completed within a very short time frame. The solar lighting approach also demonstrated the council’s willingness to invest in environmentally friendly lighting technology.
Leadsun had to overcome design restraints by nearby apartment buildings which caused shading of the square during the winter months, where it’s most essential for the solar panels to receive as much exposure to sunlight as possible. Leadsun’s design team were able to accurately calculate the required heights that the solar panels would have to be installed at so that they would avoid shading during the winter months when the sun would be at its lowest point in the sky.
Another important consideration of the solar lighting project was to ensure the aesthetics of the poles and lighting equipment would blend in with the surrounding streetscape of the area. Conventional solar lighting systems typically require large and visually obtrusive sized poles to accommodate cumbersome lead acid type batteries within the base of the pole. Leadsun’s innovative range of ‘All-In-One’ solar engines, however, fully integrate the newest in Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) battery technology and are considerably more compact versus the Lead Acid types. This allows for a pole that is much more slender and aesthetically pleasing given that it doesn’t need to house any other equipment within it.
The end result is a solar lighting system that is incredibly reliable during all periods of the year and that complies to Australian lighting standards for public areas.
For more information relating to this project as well as any enquiries about Leadsun’s innovative range of ‘All-In-One’ solar lighting products, please contact us on 1300 281 005 or visit our website: www.leadsun.com.au
