The famous Times Square New Year's Eve ball has been lit with LEDs for a few years now, but this time the rest of the display is making the big switch.
Now the "2010" numerals are being lit with custom-designed Philips LED flood bulbs that only use 9 watts each instead of the old 40-watt incandescents. To take the efficiency further, the "2" and "0" from last year are being reused. Plus, the new seven-foot "1" and "0" numbers were delivered to Times Square earlier this month, appropriately, via pedicab.
The Waterford Crystal ball itself is also getting a retrofit. Tonight it will shine with 32,256 Philips Luxeon LEDS--more than three times the LED bulbs used last year--and it will still be more energy efficient than the 2008-2009 ball. If you're like me and don't usually look too closely at the ball, this is a good year to enjoy the display during the crazed countdown.
For the past few weeks, Duracell invited visitors to their Times Square SmartPower Lab to take turns on "power rovers," special bikes that generate power to charge batteries. According to the company, more than 32,000 watt hours of energy have been generated--more than enough to light up the numbers at midnight. Next year maybe they'll convert all that cheering into some electricity.
Photo: Philips Lighting Engineer Oscar Zheng (right) and a Landmark Signs technician equip the 2010 numerals with new LEDs in Times Square. Credit: Larry Lettera, Royal Philips Electronics.
Tags: Batteries, Energy Efficiency, Green New Year, Green Tech, LEDs
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