I’ve been seeing more and more solar panels on construction and municipal equippment lately. From solar powered flashing lights in school zones, to solar call boxes and message signs on the highway, renewable energy is popping up all over and making life better by providing power in remote areas.

I have always thought that it must be a pain to keep gas in the generators that used to be on the flashing arrow signs on the highway, and who knows how much time and money must’ve been spent on generator maintenance. Also, it must be a hassle dealing with all the disposable batteries in the flashing lights on barrels in work zones. I can recall seeing hundreds of those lights in some areas. Although I haven’t seen any solution to the disposable battery problem (other than just not using them as much), solar seems to have solved the gererator problem on the big highway display signs.

There is a company called Solar Tech that is supplying construction companies with signs that have solar cells on top so that they no longer have to deal with generators. Aside from not having to buy gas anymore, LED technology has surely saved time and money by reducing the cost of changing burned-out light bulbs in the old signs. Also, since LEDs require less energy to operate, they made it easier (or perhaps even possible in the first place) for solar to work in this application.