Muscat: Solar-powered lights lit up A’Sadd Park for the first time on Sunday, according to Ahmed Al Kamzari, assistant director of Daba Municipality.
This is the second public park in Musandam to have replaced electric light poles with energy-saving ones. As the country’s smallest governorate to have eco-friendly lights, it has again proved it was capable of paving the way towards fostering a culture of sustainable energy in Oman, according to the municipality.
Collect energy
Explaining the functioning of the lights, Al Kamzari said the panels atop these poles collect energy from the sun throughout the day and lights come on when the skies get dimmer.
“The lights are switched on automatically in the evening or when the skies become dark or cloudy,” Al Kamzari explained.
Fifteen poles are now lighting up 90 per cent of A’Sadd park at a cost of OMR6,000.
One year ago, the Daba Municipality had set up around 20 solar-powered lights in Al Ghorabiyah Park. “We saved 50 per cent energy after installing these poles,” said Ahmed Al Shihi, director of the municipality.
Al Kamzari said the municipality adopted the idea after it saw the success of the environment friendly lights in other countries.
Al Shihi said more solar lighting installations were being planned in the near future. Street lights may also be included during long-term planning. “Parks are nice places where families can enjoy nature. Hence, we believe that making these environment-friendly comes with the ambiance,” Al Shihi said.