SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting has chosen Petra Systems Inc. for the second phase of its Solar to Grid project, a component of Mayor Garcetti’s Sustainable City pLAn.
Announced in April of 2015, the pLAn includes the Great Streets initiative, a set of projects that leverage innovative smart city technologies to promote the revitalization of neighborhoods by enhancing sustainability, expanding City owned and operated renewable power generation, and strengthening citywide resiliency.
“As the Bureau of Street Lighting looked to extend the success of our LED retrofit program, we recognized the ability to offset our streetlight energy bill through pole mounted solar revenue generation,” said Ed Ebrahimian, Director of the Bureau of Street Lighting for the City of Los Angeles. “This project is a strategic step for our Great Streets project. We are investing in solar power generation for LA’s citizens to improve safety, security, resilience and sustainability while at the same time offsetting the City’s power bill with the generation of clean energy.”
Los Angeles was an early adopter of LED streetlights and prides itself on being the U.S. city with the most solar capacity installed. In addition to lowering energy and maintenance costs, the arrival of LEDs coincided with a more than 10 percent reduction in crimes like car theft, vandalism, and robberies.
The City will deploy Petra’s SCS Smart Solar Power Generator, a high-efficiency solar energy network featuring a high performance PV solar panel, a SunWave™ Inverter, and fully integrated racking and cabling for secure pole attachment. The generated energy will be sent back to the grid and purchased by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“Los Angeles has long been at the forefront of smart city innovations,” said Steve Rhoades, Chief Executive Officer of Petra Systems. “Our partnership with the Bureau of Street Lighting allows us to help them transform their street lights into distributed revenue generating assets, strengthening sustainability and further enhancing energy efficiency across their street light network.”
About Petra Systems, Inc.
New Jersey-based Petra Systems, Inc. is a leading global technology provider for the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and distributed power generation markets. Petra delivers remotely managed networks for Smart City infrastructure, leveraging core expertise in power electronics, controls, and communications. With over 200,000 installed systems, Petra helps municipalities, utilities, and transportation authorities transform streetlights into valuable assets. Learn more at www.petrasystems.com
