Times Square Billboard Goes Solar . . .

The Ricoh Eco Board Times Square billboard measuring more than 6,000 sq. ft., is now powered entirely by wind and sun. The 62 solar panels and 24 thin-film, photovoltaic solar modules are illuminated by 16 LED floodlights. In addition, 90% of the signs power is provided by wind turbines. The one small catch is that the sign will go dark if there is no sun or wind, but Ricoh says it does not mind this. Enormous hurdles and design constraints had to be overcome including the sign’s curved surface and the heavy wind loads. The sign features custom opaque vinyl sheeting with a personalized message and Ricoh’s red and white logo. In fact, there was a recent ceremony in Times Square to celebrate the accomplishment.

Hopefully, in the near future the same technology will be applied to the thousands of billboards across the US. This would mean that each one would generate clean renewable energy to either power itself or sell back to local utilities companies through some form of net metering.