Gibber-gabber
Solar powered billboard
beingzoe 2007-12-05 06:27:49 UTC

Wouldn’t it be neat if we could get rid of billboards? Well that isn’t going to happen, but what if we could at least make sure they powered themselves and maybe the building next to them?

Well PG&E, a California based energy supplier has installed what it says is the nations first solar powered billboard. The billboard, at 1000 Brannan St. in San Francisco is visible from highway 101.

The sign reads:

This isn’t a billboard. It’s a power plant.

It is topped with 20 solar panels and is producing more power than it consumes. According to PG&E the billboard does not have any storage of it’s own but feeds the grid during the day; About 3.4 kilowatts of energy on a sunny day and 2.5 kilowatts on cloudy days. That is enough power for an average US household of 4.

“The energy that is collected by the solar panels actually exceeds the amount used by it on a day-to-day basis,” said Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) spokesperson Jennifer Zelwer.

In an interview with Live Science Zelwer cautioned that solar-powered placard is only for show at this time, but said she would eventually like to see similar ones replacing standard billboards up and down highways. “If these are going to be en masse in the future, that certainly would be a wonderful thing,” she said.

About the image:

Pacific Gas and Electric’s new solar-powered billboard, just off Interstate-101 in San Francisco. The placard generates enough energy to power the household of a family of three to four people during the day. Credit: PG&E