Solar Powered Security For Berrigan Shire

Australian manufactured vandal-resistant “solar poles” will soon be powering lighting and CCTV at a bunch of locations in New South Wales’ Berrigan Shire.

Just as solar energy can reduce emissions and power bills, it can also play a role in reducing vandalism and other anti-social behaviour in public places – or at least help identify the culprits.

Quite a few councils across Australia have been rolling out solar powered lighting and monitoring to help make their communities safer, and New South Wales’ Berrigan Shire Council is among the latest to do so. Solar lighting with CCTV (and some with charging facilities for handheld devices) is being installed across the local government area, kicking off with Barooga Adventure Park. Other sites to follow are:

• Barooga Botanical Garden
• Berrigan Skate Park
• Finley Foundry Park
• Finley Railway Park
• Tocumwal Splash Park
• Tocumwal Aviation Museum

Australian designed and manufactured PowerStack was the solution chosen for the project. It’s an intelligent, modular “plug and play” solar pole system using vertical glassless solar panels that provides trench- and cable-free power, connectivity, monitoring and lighting. Built-in lithium-ion batteries provide five days of power backup. PowerStack can be installed by a two-man team in as little as half an hour depending on the installation scenario.

Vandal Resistance

As for durability in what could be particularly challenging working conditions, PowerStack Energy touts its gear as the “world’s most vandal resistant solar”. That claim will probably tempt some to put it to the test, but at least the firm didn’t claim “vandal-proof” as that would really be asking for trouble. Still, this video indicates it should be a pretty tough product.

It appears a mix of 6-metre high light pole and bollard products will be used for Berrigan Shire Council’s project. This won’t be the organisation’s first use of stand-alone solar systems of sorts – the amenities block adjacent to Tocumwal Splash Park  is a fully solar powered facility with 6 unisex toilets, 1 unisex disabled access toilet, shower, baby change room and storage room.

Aside from discouraging vandalism and providing general security services, PowerStack has also been used to tackle illegal dumping. Where it has been utilised for this purpose, most of the regions experienced a 99% reduction in rubbish dumping according to the firm, with the offenders who attempted to do so prosecuted. That’s pretty impressive if true.

There should be a special place in hell (if such a place existed) reserved for those who wilfully damage community infrastructure and illegally dump rubbish. I do some volunteer work/monitoring in a National Park and the destruction I’ve seen wreaked on infrastructure is just mind-boggling. It’s just so senseless – and we all wind up paying for it.

While it’s a shame this sort of monitoring is increasingly popping up around the place and the privacy concerns of some are understandable, the sad fact is it’s badly needed. Bring on more of it; we’ll get used to it.

But it’s great this can be powered by the sun – and made in Australia. PowerStack is manufactured in Berkeley, a suburb of Wollongong. The company also has production facilities in the USA to service that market.