Aware of the importance of measures aimed at sustainability and energy efficiency, the Municipality of Funchal is preparing to install an innovative system that combines road safety with energy efficiency in a sought touristic area.
The system relies on a renewable and solar energy generation and storage solution - solar and wind - that will power energy production systems that are intended to be used for residential purposes, commercial, telecommunications and lighting systems. The system will integrate several modules, namely video capture, energy performance optimizer, Wi-Fi network, among others that can be integrated in the future as automobile traffic counters, charging for electric vehicles, etc.
The system will be introduced next to a few pedestrian crossings, allowing also the reinforcement of the pedestrian safety in the crossing by incorporating intelligent lighting, that is, when detecting a pedestrian that intends to cross, the light on the floor and the upper illumination are automatically activated, increasing the visibility of pedestrian crossing for drivers.
In summary, the system is characterized by the following functionalities:
• Autonomy, powered by solar panel and wind turbine, fully integrated in one piece, capable of powering WIFI communication systems, IP cameras, charging of electrical and mobile devices;
• LED public space illumination using natural energy sources, such as wind and solar, associated with an intelligent management platform in which the user must have remote access to the respective energy consumption and equipment configuration;
• Backlighting of the walkway pavement, through sensing and dynamic vertical and horizontal signalling, reacting to pedestrians' proximity;
• Dissemination of WI-FI networks, distributed to the structures dedicated to the generation of renewable energy;
• Video surveillance devices, aimed at capturing video for pedestrian crossing zones, with remote access in real time.
