The City of Sarasota Creates Safe Lighting for Sea Turtles and People
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The City of Sarasota in Florida is known for its vision to be a world-class community and a treasured destination with enduring natural beauty, charm, and diversity, creating a focus on preservation and sustainability. In a landmark project, it sought to offset the carbon footprint by providing solar lighting along Benjamin Franklin Dr. The solar-powered LED lighting will give safety and security all night while maintaining a natural, non-invasive illumination for sea turtle nesting habitats.
The Challenges of the Area
The extensive project has four areas of challenges the City of Sarasota wanted to correct:
- The city had a problem with roadway lighting in the beach resort destination encompassing St. Armand’s Circle to Ted Sperling Nature Park.
- The location of the 1.6-mile drive is in a sea turtle nesting zone. These sea turtles are vulnerable to disorientation from artificial light adjacent to their nesting areas.
- Meet the requirements of the area’s DOT and FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation) lighting standards.
- Design and installation have to consider high winds, storm surges, and a high water-table.
Solution
DOT, FWC, and the City of Sarasota’s engineering team, carefully analyzed the Benjamin Franklin Drive Lighting Project to find the best commercial-grade solar lighting solution. The teams assessed the sensitive sea turtle nesting beach, lined with high-end condominiums and hotels. Much of the roadway is inside the Coastal Construction Control Line (FL). The area maintains a high water table, densely packed with underground utilities.
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After several months of evaluation, all teams agreed to bring SELS Solar to design and engineer the lighting for this unique project. Solutions to the challenges include:
- SELS Solar evaluated lighting spectrums for the roadway and cut-off options to minimize light trespassing into the nesting area, thus promoting marine turtle conservation and safety for beachgoers.
- The City of Sarasota gained approval for lamp lights (560 nm) in the sea turtle nesting areas.
- SELS Solar’s lighting team presented a lighting layout acceptable to FWC and DOT standards of lighting. FWC requires amber color and non-intrusive lighting at a low height. DOT requires bright, clear lighting with high uniformity.
- Use solar-powered lighting that can withstand weather elements.
Results
- In the Spring of 2022, SELS Solar installed 270 solar-powered LED lights providing high uniformity, safety, and security all night long and preserving the nesting area of sea turtles.
- SELS Solar lighting is durable and eco-friendly. The attractive light design is long-lasting and can withstand various weather conditions, including hurricane-force winds, cloudy days, etc.
Product(s) Used:
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ST-SERIES SOLAR STREET LIGHTS
The City of Sarasota’s lighting project marks the beginning of an era of utility-scale solar LED lighting as an option for cities and municipalities. It is the first large-scale solar lighting project that is FWC and DOT-approved.
These accomplishments don’t come easy, but at SELS Solar, we pride ourselves on meeting the challenges that position us as leaders in commercial solar-powered solutions. Call today to discuss your city’s solar lighting project.