Solar and the Future of Illuminated Signs
One of the problems with billboards is that once the sun goes down, they have to be illuminated in order to be as effective during the evening as they are in the day. Of course, you could let them go dark, but why pay for your advertising space if you’re not going to get the full benefit from it?
There’s still a catch, though. You have to pay for the lighting, as well as all the cabling and maintenance of the wires, the generator or the mains power, depending on where you are.
The sun shines everywhere
Thankfully, this one extra advertising cost can be significantly reduced if you choose to illuminate your billboard with solar-powered lights.
You’re already aware of the benefits of using solar power and if you’re not, then you’ve clearly been kept in the dark (ahem) for the last decade or three… The trouble is that we tend to think of using solar power only in our homes, so if you’re using mains power to light up your roadside adverts then you’re missing a trick.
You wont just reduce your electricity bills
This benefit is a given, so let’s think about the other reasons why more companies will be letting the sun shine on their ads.
You don’t need to dig in your wiring and cables
This is very time-consuming, especially if you’re putting up an entirely new board. You may also have to ask nearby landowners for permission to run cabling through their grounds, which they might not allow, or they might allow for (yet another) price. With a solar-lit billboard, you’re pretty much self-sufficient once the PV panels are mounted atop your advert.
You’ll also be advertising your green cred
Not only will passers-by get your message in the dark, but they’ll also see that you care about the environment when they pass by in the daytime. To light up your billboard at night you’ll need at least a couple of panels charging up that battery and it’s a good idea to make them as obvious as possible – don’t be shy, stick them right on the top.
You can reach the parts you couldn’t before
It’s not just awkward landowners that can turn off your lights for you, it can be a remote location. Installing new mains cabling is never cheap and if you’re planning to put up a board somewhere that’s just out of reach of the mains you can be faced with a big works bill. No bother, with a couple of (obvious, remember) panels and a decent battery, your off-the-beaten-track billboard will be working for you at night as well as day. You may have been dissuaded from placing your billboard along that rural road because of a lack of infrastructure, but now you could have your country cousins beating a path to your door!