City Deploys Solar Powered Transit Shelters

Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city with a population of more than 695,000. This year 23 new bus transit shelters will be installed by Viacom Outdoor using solar power technology developed by Carmanah Technologies.

"Installing solar powered lights in our shelters is really a win-win situation for the City of Mississauga and Viacom Outdoor," said Transportation and Works Commissioner Martin Powell. "By installing solar powered lights, the city expects to save approximately $400 annually per shelter in hydro costs and Viacom saves the cost in providing an electrical connection to the power source."

"Viacom Outdoor wanted to look at what we could do as a corporation to help the City of Mississauga reduce the dependency on the electrical power grid," says National Director of Transit and Community Development Darcy Clark. "Viacom approached municipal staff late last year with a proposal to pilot test the solar power technology on 39 shelters. The results were so positive that the City has now agreed to allow solar as an alternative to illuminating the non-advertising shelters."