Solar Lighting Considered

Mirna Alfonso For The Coast News

Oceanside--The City Council is considering a cheaper and more efficient lighting system for the city using a solar lighting system.

Councilwoman Carol McCauley brought the presentation by Washington State-based Eagle-1 to Council July 10.

Council directed staff to commence work with the company and bring back a report on the possibility of starting a pilot program in one area of the city.

According to supporters of the measure, this is s especially important in light of the September terrorist attacks and the current energy situation.

The state went to a Stage Two alert June 11.

Eagle-1 President Dan Soon told council that McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad has ordered units from Eagle-1.

"Everybody just can't wait to have those lights up," Oceanside representative Peter Duchon of ASAP POWER! said the morning of June 12, when the lights had just arrived.

The airport bought three units, which light up 100 feet by 75 feet, at a cost of $3895.

Soon said this cost pays for itself within a matter of years for existing facilities but for new development, it pays for itself immediately.

The cost of conventional lighting, with its trenching and undergrounding of utilities, is $6,000 to $10,000

"Four hours of sunlight will create enough energy in a battery for the light to run up to 14 hours," Duchon said.

In a climate like San Diego County's, which has sunlight practically every day, charging the batteries is a simple matter, Duchon said.

There is enough power stored in the system that would allow the light to come on for three nights even without its daily ration of sunshine.

"The panels are made of silicon cells," Soon told the council.

"Silicon is the most abundant matter on the Earth," he added, citing the sand on Oceanside's beaches.