Boni Tunnel gets solar-powered lights

A new lighting system will be illuminating the Boni Tunnel in Mandaluyong City.The Boni Tunnel Efficient Lighting System inaugurated today uses solar-powered light emitting diodes (LEDs) installed along the 297-meter tunnel.The system consists of 94 22-watt LED master lamps that last for 30,000 hours.The LED lights replaced the area's old lighting system composed of mixed tubular flourescent lights and high pressure sodium lamps.The Department of Energy (DOE) said the old system is "not only dim but also poses security risks" to vehicles passing through the tunnel.
DOE said solar panels installed in one of the tunnel entrances would cover 19 percent of the total tunnel power demand resulting in 51 percent energy savings compared with the old system.Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the use of energy efficient lighting systems in the local government units saves spending on electricity.Almendras said the city government of Mandaluyong can save up to P240,000 in electricity ecpenditure with the new system."It is very important for us today to continuously moderate electricity consumption. In reducing consumption, we also lessen our carbon footprints effectively contributing to the solutions towards the issue of climate change," he said.
DOE said the tunnel will be using Meralco power grid, solar power and lithium ion battery.
The tunnel will use solar power at daytime and will switch to power grid at nighttime. Meanwhile, lithium ion battery can back-up the system for four hours in case of power grid failure.DOE implemented the project in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the city government of Mandaluyong, PNOC Renewables Corp., Philips Electronics and the Asian Development Bank.
For this study, Palanker and his team fabricated a chip about the size of a pencil point that contains hundreds of these light-sensitive diodes. To test how these chips responded, the researchers used retinas from both normal rats and blind rats that serve as models of retinal degenerative disease. The scientists placed an array of photodiodes beneath the retinas and placed a multi-electrode array above the layer of ganglion cells to gauge their activity. The scientists then sent pulses of light, both visible and near-infrared, to produce electric current in the photodiodes and measured the response in the outer layer of the retinas.