Fast-Growing Denver Offers Perfect Solar LED Lighting Climate
It’s one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States: Denver, Colorado, is a booming urban center in the Front Range Urban Corridor, bordered by the Rocky Mountains and the High Plains. The population here is approximately 680,000, about a 15% increase since the 2010 census; overall, the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Metropolitan Statistical Area is home to approximately 2.8 million, making it the 19th-most populous MSA in the United States.
This state capital is an active, outdoor-oriented city with an equally active nightlife and vibrant culture. Numerous craft and national breweries have premises here, and the city hosts the Great American Beer Festival annually. Sports fans can enjoy professional level football, basketball, hockey, and baseball, with the Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rockies, respectively.
Denver is divided into an impressive 78 neighborhoods, many of which contain a park as a focal point. Green spaces like Central Park, Bluff Lake Nature Center, and the many public community gardens are valued landmarks. Improving walkability in these neighborhoods is a key point in the new “Denver Moves: Pedestrians & Trails” plan. Finding ways to make these green spaces even more accessible is possible with solar outdoor lighting, which can add lighting where none existed before, improving park usability without damaging the existing landscape. Without requiring the costs and environmental effects of trenching for on-grid electrical power, solar park lighting offers a reliable lighting option for Denver.
Opportunities for Commercial Solar Street Lighting
Known as the Mile High City, Denver sits exactly one mile above sea level—it’s the highest major city in the country. Despite its northern latitude and elevation, Denver is semi-arid, receiving an average of 115 clear days per year. But the weather can also change suddenly, and Chinook winds are common in the winter.
These complex conditions are no deterrent for the city to develop sustainable initiatives that include solar power. In fact, the city has a Sustainable Neighborhood Network, which encourages residents to actively help increase sustainability in their own backyards through activities like Christmas light trade-ins, carpool networks, noxious weed removal, or solar energy installation analysis.
Denver is already showing a commitment to sustainable, smart communities: Peña Station is one such example of a planned community that will be using smart technology to offer citizens a better sense of safety and security with smart street lighting. The Denver Public Works department works with the utility company here to provide street lighting, but there are opportunities to convert these lights to city control with solar lighting, another example of the many ways Denver can continue down the sustainability path to help ensure a self-reliant future.
Watch our video on commercial solar lighting in Colorado
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