Petra Solar has changed its name to Petra Systems and plans to expand its strategic focus beyond solar generation to deliver smart city applications, especially LED street lights powered by solar.
Petra Systems introduced the Petra Smart City Solution, a smart pole system that connects street lights, energy generation, surveillance, data, and communication networks to a city’s public works department.
The company says electricity bills from street lights are one of the largest expenses for municipalities, and cities recognize the benefits of LED retrofit programs to reduce energy. Petra sees an opportunity to strengthen smart city projects with LED retrofits and LED light controllers combined with the revenue generated by solar power production.
As part of the Petra SCS introduction, the company has launched the Municipal Pilot Program, giving qualified municipalities the ability to deploy a proof-of-concept pilot network consisting of up to 10 Petra SCS systems at no charge.
The Petra SCS system includes:
- Smart light controller system comprised of smart transceivers that control individual street light ballasts
- A grid-connected solar power generator
- Wireless networking capabilities with multiple bandwidth options
- Street light network gateways
- Battery backup to manage operations during grid interruption.