Well, its something that we all know that it will keep going up north and can't be avoided due to rising oil prices. For the fourth quarter in a row, the electricity tariff for households will rise by 3 per cent, or 0.69 cent per kilowatt hour, to 23.56 cents per kwh. The average fuel-oil price has grown from $99.38 per barrel three months ago to $102.95 per barrel. The electricity tariff for households jumped by 5.4 per cent, 12.5 per cent and 6.9 per cent in this quarter and the previous two quarters, respectively. With the constant rising of electricity tariffs, solar solutions are certainly becoming more viable.

“Seeing is Surviving” This title is so true and appropriate that if we can make the roads more visible, accident rates can be reduced.

The “Traffic Technology International” magazine (March 2010) has highlighted our solar markers in their latest issue targeted for the big show of “Intertraffic Amsterdam 2010”. http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/9009c6af#/9009c6af/20

THE LUNA LANDING
And it’s not just white lines that can make a difference to safety, as Richard Sabga director of Sustainable Development with USA-based Luna Road can testify. The company specializes in the design, manufacture and supply of solar-powered illumination technologies and has enjoyed a run of high-profile contracts over the past 12 months. In the Caribbean country of Trinidad, for instance, automotive fatality rates are particularly high. In a country of just 1.2 million people, 200 people die on the roads each year. In fact, one stretch of road in the capital’s Port of Spain, at only 2,000ft in length, registers a staggering 60 deaths a year. “This was a killer stretch of road with a very high mortality rate,” Sagba says. “We were approached by the director of highways for Port of Spain, who was keen to make the road safer. We installed 200 of our solar-powered units 30ft apart and down three lines of the two-lane stretch.” Since the installation of Luna Road’s solar studs, deaths on this stretch of highway have fallen from 60 a year to just four – a 90% fall. “And these deaths occurred during the daytime!” Sabga stresses. “The benefit of this technology is that unlike streetlighting – which only provides a localized ambient glow – you can see the layout of the road from a long distance without relying on your headlights, which provides more visual information for the driver.” In terms of product development, in place of its existing polycarbonate covers, Luna Road is working on a brand new selfcleaning, photocatalytic material that will allow ultraviolet penetration, yet will not discolor in the sun after two or three years.

About:
Traffic Technology International, launched in 1994, is the leading magazine in the advanced traffic management field. Renowned for its peerless editorial quality and stunning design, Traffic Technology International won the prestigious 'Periodical Publishers Association's International Business-to-Business Magazine of the Year' award in May 2000. A must-read for all traffic authorities.

LEDs magazine has covered our recent deployment in Panama City's brand new Coastal Beltway or Cinta Costera. This new stretch of road was to help decongest the busy road network of Panama City by providing a bypass route past the city.

The 6 lanes road takes approxmately 72,000 vehicles per day!

Read more about it on LEDs Magazine, Traffic Technology Today, roadtraffic-technology.com and more photos here.

Into the New Year and we officially launch the newly improved LR-40, we call it The LR-40: OPTIMUS!  With its modern, futuristic and rugged design, in addition to its top-class and efficient performance; the LR-40: OPTIMUS Series is in a class of its own. Improvements include:

• Enhanced strength and durability
• Longer illumination hours

Datasheet can be downloaded here.

We keep innovating!

The Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim launched the Sustainable Manufacturing Centre (SMC) today, spearheaded by the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

The SMC aims to showcase and promote the concept of sustainability in manufacturing and create a platform to converge relevant government agencies, industry associations, research community and industry to engage in R&D and implementation of sustainable manufacturing technologies and methodologies. The Centre will work with the manufacturing industry to develop and implement innovative technologies that reduce emissions, wastes and toxicity in manufacturing, promote the recycling and reuse of resources and strengthen the global competitiveness of Singapore’s manufacturing industry in the world where environmental issues have become a major concern.

SMC also showcases exhibits of sustainable manufacturing technologies, best practices, capabilities, success stories and an array of products to inspire innovations in green manufacturing technologies and products.

Solar Research displayed their products at the Centre as well. More photos here.

For press release and GOH speech, please click here.

Coverages: 938 Live | The Straits Times |

Dr Fannon Lim (Standing: 3rd from left), Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for MEWR (Standing: 8th from left), Ms Yena Lim, MD A*STAR (Standing: 10th from left)

From Darwin to southern Adelaide, 35 cars from more than a dozen countries will compete in 'The Global Green Challenge' in Australia. Their hybrid, electric and low emission vehicles as well as those propelled by the sun, will have to complete 3,000 km.

Read more about it here and live results. 

Costing some S$11 million, the BCA has launched a 3 storey Zero Energy Building at Braddell Road. With this showcase, the government hopes to get 80% of all buildings to be certified on Green Mark by 2030.

Read more here with video embedded.

In Silicon Valley, a man filed charges against his neighbours because their towering redwood trees blocked sunlight to his 10kW solar panels. The neighbours lost the case and were ordered to trim their trees and paid $37,000 in legal fees.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger then signed a new law that if trees were planted before solar panels were installed, then the solar-panel owner cannot force the trees to be trimmed or chopped. So whichever comes first will win!

Read more here.