SOLAR POWERED PAVING SLABS

Just went past this .. and i think it is a great way to run... can we have more of it in HK??

An installation in Shoreditch

The Beacon is a 6 metre tower of coloured Plexiglas, solar panels and light. The installation produces its own electricity through an array of solar panels, mounted at the top of the tower, and through innovative solar paving slabs, which are made from photo voltaic cells, embedded in a mixture of recycled glass and resin – manufactured in Hackney, from glass produced as a waste product in the borough.

During the day, the Beacon will be illuminated by sunlight, which at the same time will charge up a bank of batteries in the base of the installation. At night, the batteries will use their stored solar energy to power 16 efficient fluorescent tubes. The Beacon will not be lit constant at night, but only if the solar panels have converted enough energy to drive the lighting display. How long the Beacon remains illuminated (if at all) depends on ecology. How fast the light when on display depends on the view: the more movement the brighter and faster the Beacon.

from

http://www.lottolab.org/articles/beacon.asp