Tampa Riverwalk Solar Signs Case Study

The Tampa River Walk Solar Signs is an excellent project that demonstrates how solar technology can be used for signage. This project will also be featured in an upcoming issue of segdDESIGN.

Project: Solar Map Kiosks
Location: Tampa, Fla.
Client: City of Tampa
Project Team: MERJE (design), EDAW Inc. (landscape design), Urban Sign & Crane (fabrication), Power Up (solar components)
Photos: MERJE

The City of Tampa completed a comprehensive downtown wayfinding project in February 2009 in time for its hosting of Super Bowl XLII. The wayfinding system continues on Riverwalk, the city’s new 2.4-mile waterfront pathway along the Hillsborough River. A pilot phase of seven pedestrian directional signs and eight map kiosks was installed along the first completed stretch of Riverwalk this year.

In addition to static interpretive and directional signs, MERJE (Philadelphia) designed a series of illuminated map kiosks to guide visitors along the pathway and highlight important destinations and amenities. The kiosks needed to be accessible during day and nighttime hours, requiring illumination. They also needed to provide some shade from the intense Florida sun. Seeing an opportunity to support Tampa’s ongoing sustainability initiatives—and also to address the practical challenges of delivering power to relatively inaccessible kiosks—MERJE elected to explore solar options.

The first design consideration was determining the size of the solar panel needed to support dusk-to-dawn illumination, says Amy Rees, MERJE senior associate. A 20x28 panel was identified as large enough to power LEDs to edgelight the maps during the required hours. The team then had to decide whether the solar array would be located remotely or integrally. Remote location was ruled out to avoid ripping up new hardscaping around the units.

But integrating the solar panel in a way that wouldn’t visually overpower the structure was tricky. To work it out, MERJE and project fabricator Urban Sign & Crane (Vineland, N.J.) worked closely during several rounds of 3D rendering and animation.

“Using just 2D drawings, it was very difficult to get a feel for the shape of the canopy and how it would reveal the solar array,” says Seth Davis, Urban Sign vice president. So his team used Sketchup to create multiple 3D iterations and simulations. “It’s a great tool for visually working out how shapes can be made and fit together.”

The kiosks are 8.5-ft. tall, consisting of a 5-in.-deep aluminum cabinet flag-mounted to a steel pole. Atop the pole, a perforated-aluminum canopy reveals a 3-in. recess in which the 1-in.-thick solar array sits, with room for air circulation around the panel, a fan, and a battery pack.

Davis estimates that each of the solar-powered units consumes only 2.05 kilowatt- hours (kWh) per month, at a cost of just 20 cents—in comparison to $72 per month if the units were powered with traditional fluorescents.

Lee Hoffman, Tampa’s Riverwalk development manager, says it’s difficult to quantify the energy savings that will result when the program is in full operation. “But we’re trying to integrate sustainable elements wherever possible. It’s a principle we’re trying to instill in everything we do.”