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Spring 2023 13 www.hae.org.uk www.eha.org.uk SRL Traffic Systems has become one of the first companies to offer UK and Ireland traffic managers solar technology for mobile traffic signals, enabling them to deliver projects more sustainably, cost-effectively and safely. The only solution on the market that can be retrofitted onto customers’ existing stock, SRL Solar PLUSTM is the latest addition to the company’s growing solar portfolio. Designed and manufactured in the UK, it is available exclusively for hire. Early results from SRL’s alpha tests, designed to identify the optimum cell, have demonstrated the product’s potential to eliminate exchanges for months at a time, according to the manufacturer. The beta trials that have been running on live customer sites throughout the UK and RoI since November show that the solution is performing well in even the poorest domestic weather conditions. SRL’s Solar PLUSTMworks with either AGM (absorbed glass mat) or lead acid batteries, though the solution is best suited to products using AGM batteries, as they are designed to discharge and re-charge better than lead acid alternatives. Traffic lights incorporating the new technology run with three batteries in the base of the box. The signals are available to hire via a range of flexible, added value contracts. Traffic management companies who have previously purchased SRL’s Pedestrian, Radiolight and Eurolight signals may hire SRL Solar PLUSTM lids, retrofitting their existing stock and promoting circularity. Retrofitting is undertaken by an SRL commissioning engineer. Signals featuring SRL Solar PLUSTM incorporate a telematics device within the boxes. The unit empowers operations managers to check battery charge levels and system functionality remotely, enabling them to identify exactly when batteries need to be exchanged or serviced. It also allows them to monitor their assets’ precise locations. The panels have withstood extensive testing well. Their raised edges minimise risk of damage during loading and transportation, they can withstand low temperatures, ice and snow, and feature four bullet locks for additional security, according to SRL. To date there has been no damage nor thefts reported from any of the test sites. SRL Solar PLUSTM comes with a five-year warranty and its components can be recycled by SRL. SRL recently achieved ISO 14064 – 1:2018 accreditation for operational greenhouse gas emission management and reduction. Its new technology enables customers to make a compelling case to end users with stringent environmental specification criteria, such as local authorities, tier one contractors and utilities providers. Class One Traffic Management participated in the beta trial. Its Contracts Director, Wullie Murdoch, said the combination of solar charging and telematics significantly reduced the number of site visits required. “The telematics device enabled us to monitor the signals remotely and so limit visits to those times when battery changes were actually required, removing the need to travel to the site to confirm that the signals were working,” he said. Freeflow Traffic Management’s Operations Director, Stephen McNair, said his company also trialled the product on sites in a remote, hard- to-reach part of northern Scotland, over a period that included three weeks of particularly adverse winter weather conditions. “Battery changeovers were minimal and the telematics system enabled us to track voltage remotely, so Freeflow did not have to attend at all during the most challenging time. Our clients will reap commercial benefits too,” he said. SRL is Europe’s largest manufacturer of portable and temporary ITS (intelligent transport system) solutions and provider of the continent’s biggest fleet of mobile traffic signals. It has more than 30 depots. SOLARTRAFFIC SIGNAL FIRST