Police in Ohio go solar [w/VIDEO]
Click above to watch the video after the break
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says it was able to save roughly $1 million in fuel costs in 2008 (reportedly a 16.4-percent savings) by increasing stationary patrol time. Sitting stationary does save fuel if the other option is to drive around on patrol. Still, it's a well-known fact that police officers often leave the engines in their cruisers idling in order to power the various electric doodads required in their jobs. As you would guess, lots of fuel gets burned away in these circumstances.
To combat this particular problem, nearly 1,200 patrol cars in Ohio are reportedly set to get a new five-watt solar panel that will provide sufficient juice to power the officers' patrol-car radios. Each unit will reportedly cost $37 and will be wired directly to the car's stock lead-acid battery, which is expected to both reduce fuel costs and increase the life of the car's battery.
Another interesting and green-related tidbit: the brackets used to fasten these solar panels to the rear decks of patrol cars were fashioned from misprinted license plates. Click past the break for a short video.
[Source: Green Car Advisor, WTOL Toledo]
Video:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tohe 8:31PM (6/09/2009)
I like it when people think outside the box, good for them.
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Paul Allen 8:30PM (6/11/2009)
Five watts? What a joke, that is almost nothing!
And that's almost certainly a peak rating, under optimum conditions, clear sky, aimed exactly at the sun, and certainly without another layer of glass, i.e., the back window (which is probably solar reflective to reduce heat gain in the car). So in reality it probably puts out maybe 2 watts, which is about 1/6 amp.
It's hard to say who is dumber, the cops that bought these things, or the reporter.
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organic 9:23PM (6/09/2009)
I have to agree even if it was a 15watt panel that always put out 5watts it still would not be worth it. Also I would have just installed it on the roof behind the lights.
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John Rowell 11:03PM (6/09/2009)
These appear to be the standard 5 watt solar panels available from the Harbor Freight store around the corner ... http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41144
Now this system could work, if (1) the car is parked such that the solar panel is getting direct sunlight, and (2) the patrol cars engine is shut off while parked so the solar panel has a chance to supply the energy instead. In real-life conditions, it could prove to be a disappointment - but at least it's a very low cost experiment and raises awareness of what's possible with solar. BTW, if the patrol cars were hybrids, they'd have a larger battery to begin with and would shut off automatically when parked - so, problem solved!
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MikeW 12:26AM (6/10/2009)
Here is an idea, unplug the radar gun.
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jharlan 12:49AM (6/10/2009)
How green of them! What a bunch of crap!
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David Martin 12:39PM (6/10/2009)
On a hot day, the cops are going to turn their air conditioning off?
Really!
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