Santa Barbara-- Santa Barbara County Parks' officials have come up with a bright idea to improve safety at a South Coast site.
The energy from the sun, continues to brighten the night sky at Arroyo Burro Beach in Santa Barbara.
"Its an LED which is a low power use technology in the light itself, and it has a solar panel that recharges the lights during the day, " explains Tom Fayram, the interim Parks director for Santa Barbara County.
Officials needed to install lights in the parking lot to address safety concerns. Fayram says,"After night fall for people to walk to their cars coming off the beach or coming from the restaurant, it just makes a more secure environment."
They decided solar powered l-e-d's were the way to go.
"It's rated to last for 60,000 hours of average use. That translates into about a 15 to 18 year period of time that you won't have to change the lights. By comparison a typical sodium vapor lamp would require annual servicing or replacement," says Erik Axelson, the South County Parks Operations Manager.
It cost about $40,000 to install the six new luminaries. About $30,000 came from state grants. the lights are expected to save the county money in the long run.
Axelson says, "That would be more than made up for in very quickly in terms of cost savings by not having to pay for electricity."
Officials hope the technology will catch on.
"I can foresee this type of lighting taking root in all of our parks really not a good reason not to," says Fayram.
