B*N*S*N3

As many as 800 solar-powered street lights have been put up in Fallujah by the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Corps expects to place as many as 600-700 more. Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Solar power helping light streets of Iraq

Dec 16, 2008
BY C. Todd Lopez

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Dec. 16, 2008) -- Mostly desert and a lot of sun, it makes sense there's a place for solar power in Iraq.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Iraqi government are using solar energy to light the dark streets of Baghdad, Basra, Fallujah, Kharma and Sakalaweyah.

"The lights that we installed have an 80-watt panel on them, a lead-acid battery and a 18-watt fluorescent light bulb on them," said John Offen, an engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "To date, we've installed about a little over 800 of them, and they're operating just fine. And we still have about 600-700 more to go. The city of Fallujah didn't have power at night and this was an easy way to light up the streets that didn't depend upon any remote source of power."....(Read more here)