Hertfordshire County Council announced it is brightening up Stevenage and Hitchin, with trials of wind and solar street lighting

This comes after a successful introduction of two wind and solar lighting schemes in Rickmansworth, located at Corner View in Welham Green and another on Park Road.

The new installations have one unit on the cycleway in Jessop Road, Stevenage, and two further units on the remote footpath in Friars Road, Weston.

These efforts will support the county council’s ongoing mission to create a cleaner, greener, and healthier Hertfordshire, making active travel more accessible.

But WatNews see no mention of the operating hours of when lights will be on. There has been much demand for street lighting to be on throughout the dark hours, as this was limited a few years back to save energy and has remained with the use of LEDs. Thr solar route could revert this switch off.

These trials will run for 12 months to see how well the units perform over the four seasons (to account for variation in sunlight/daylight hours).

The units have zero carbon emissions, and no energy consumption cones from the grid.

WatNews can envisage more street CCTV being powered this way, with WiFi broadcast of the imaging.

Solar — Cllr Phil Bibby (centre) and newly-installed street light. He is accompanied by Wayne Bartlett (left) and Sam Brown (right), both from Ringway. (Image: Hertfordshire County Council)

Phil Bibby, Executive Member for Highways and Transport, Hertfordshire County Council said: “I’m delighted that both Stevenage and Hitchin are trialling new wind and solar street lighting. It’s a further indication of our commitment to the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy and Action Plan, specifically to be carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030 and a net zero greenhouse gas county by 2050.

“Creating a cleaner and greener environment which supports sustainable, responsible growth, are two of our key priorities which we are focused on delivering.”