Renewable Distributed Generation for Smart Highway Lighting

Electric energy has become one of the most important means that is carrying out our life in motion, thanks to the advancements in science and technology. Now more than ever, electricity is in heavy demand as fossil fuels and other conventional resources are depleting at a brisk rate. So with the sudden surge in the power demand, it is important, rather essential, to develop strategies to preserve power and prevent conventional resources from getting completely exhausted. Therefore, renewable energy is replacing conventional set-ups in different applications wherever electricity is consumed. One such application is replacing conventional highway lighting with distributed generation for smart highway lighting. The prototype of the following has been built and discussed in the purposed report to illuminate the highway during the night or in low lighting conditions. This project integrates three different sources to produce electricity that can be utilized for highway lighting. Solar to electrical energy from solar panels, wind energy to electrical energy from wind turbines, and mechanical to electrical from piezoelectric plates will be stored in a battery via a charging circuit.