New Energy on the Highways?

-By Terry Shannon

We’ve all seen them - highway signs, street lights, blinking yellow lights, all powered with a solar panel. But the Texas Department of Transportation

(TX DOT) is experimenting with a new source of energy, a miniature wind turbine. Residents of the Coastal Bend can see two of these firsthand on

State Highway 44 between Corpus Christi’s airport and Robstown, and two others at the intersection of SH 35 and SH 188 in Aransas County.

But why the change? Wind in South Texas is a constant, which sometimes creates issues for the solar panels. The turbines takes advantage of the

wind to provide the necessary energy to operate the blinking beacons. Solar powered and wind turbine powered lights are exceptionally easy to install because they eliminate the need for electricity at the location of

the sign/lights. For TX DOT, it becomes a simple matter of digging a hole and emplacing the pole/lights and installing a panel or turbine.The new turbine-powered blinking lights being tested were loaned by the turbine manufacturer. According to TX DOT, they seem to be working, although they caution that unlike solar panels, wind turbines are mechanical, meaning there is always a chance that it can stop working, or worse, getting hit by a car and damaging the props.

But for now, the wind turbines are doing the job and chances are Texas

motorists will see more of them on Texas-operated highways. Other TX

DOT districts are studying the feasibility of using wind turbines to power

traffic signals.