Roads brightly lit in Colombia

Join us for a brief tour of Colombia. After the Gran Manglar road bridge in Cartagena and the Alto Magdalena highway between Girardot and Honda, new roads in the capital Bogota have now been lit by solar solutions. To boost economic development across its regions, the South American country is extending its road infrastructure. Keen to protect the environment, lighting these roads using renewable energy is the logical way forward.

Eco-friendly road schemes in Colombia

Develop while protecting

Easing congestion on the national road network by building new high-speed links is a top priority for Colombia. These initiatives are helping boost trade and commerce by enabling people and goods to move faster. For example, the 5.4 kilometre (3.4 mi) Viaducto de la Paz or ‘Viaduct of Peace’ between the cities of Cartagena and Barranquilla has shaved about 10 minutes off the journey time.

Colombia is also placing great
emphasis on eco-responsibility. This new road infrastructure is being developed
in a resolutely ecological approach in order to protect the environment.
Renewable materials, latest construction techniques and green energies for
public lighting are just some of the ways the impact of these developments is
being minimized.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Colombia committed to a 20% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2030.

Bogota’s roads

In the TomTom Traffic Index,
the Colombian capital Bogota ranks as the second most congested city in the
world. To alleviate this problem, new roads have been built by local
contractors Accenorte and others have been upgraded to meet standards.

For the public lighting part, 83 Fonroche off-grid solar streetlights have been installed, mainly on the entry and exit roads to the bypass.

Sustainable lighting with no economic impact

365 nights of light a year — guaranteed

Choosing solar public lighting to improve road safety and security means:

• No civil engineering work, cable laying or grid
  connection
• No expensive electricity bills
• No regular maintenance needed

Benefits include:

• Quick installation, so road projects can be delivered
  sooner
• Up to 25% savings compared with a grid-connected
  equivalent
• The same powerful spread of light as a conventional
  system
• 365 nights of lighting, with no outages
• Limited environmental impact