Solar-and-wind-powered street lamps anyone?

SOLAR-WIND-POWERED lamppost set up at Plaza Sugbu fronting the City Hall Legislative Building. (PHOTO FROM THE TOMMY OSMEñA FB PAGE)

Outside Cebu City Hall, there stands a futuristic looking tower which has a revolving metal piece on top.

The equipment is actually a lamppost powered by both solar and wind energy, said Department of Public Services (DPS) head Roberto Cabarrubias.

He said the lamppostwas one of two donated to the city by a Japanese manufacturer during the term of mayor Michael Rama but it was never used or tested.

It was only put up last December on the order of now Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

“It’s a very good equipment because there are two sources of energy. When the sun is there, it can charge the battery. If it’s cloudy, chances are there’s wind, and it can also generate electricity and charge the battery,” he told Cebu Daily News.

The lamppost is powered by electricity stored in its batteries, which comes from the energy produced by the solar panels and turbine that’s attached to it. The actual LED (light emitting diode) lamp is 70 watts.

While smaller and less bright than the city’s current 210-watt LED street lights, the donated lampposts can still illuminate the street, he said.

The city has no plan yet to acquire these lamps but they decided to put it up as there might be interested private sector buyers, Cabarrubias said.

Each costing P300,000, it will not be practical for the city to buy these lampposts for its streets since urban Cebu City has stable electricity supply, Cabarrubias added.

Osmeña, in a post on his Facebook page, said the city is experimenting with the lamppost as he might consider using it for the city’s mountain barangays.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult to outfit them with electric sockets either so they can function as charging stations as well. If these lampposts prove durable, they might be a worthwhile addition to some of our mountain barangays,” he said in his post.