Lenexa launches traffic-signal battery backup pilot using lithium batteries and solar monitoring
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Sign Up Free
Summary
City staff described a pilot battery-backup system for traffic signals that pairs lithium iron phosphate batteries, remote monitoring and limited solar to extend run time during outages; the city plans about 30 installations this year with solar at roughly eight sites.
City staff presented a pilot program to add battery backup and solar monitoring to Lenexa's traffic signals, a project designed to keep signals operating during outages and give staff real-time status of equipment.
Steve Schooley, presenting for municipal services, described a system using lithium iron phosphate batteries paired with Victron controllers and optional solar panels. Schooley said the new batteries can provide up to 24 hours of run time on smaller intersections, have a 12-year warranty, and are rated for thousands of charge cycles. Real-time monitoring, he said, will let staff see which signals are running on battery, which have returned to commercial power and where maintenance is needed.
"We do have the capacity to be able to operate the signal like that," Schooley said of the solar-plus-battery arrangement. He showed a pilot installation at Marshall and Flom and said the system recently supplied mostly solar power during sunny days, reducing grid usage; he estimated solar could supply about 87% of signal power on those test days and forecast panel payback in roughly three to four years based on $300'$400 annual savings per location.
Schooley said the initial plan is to install about 30 of the new systems this year and include solar panels at roughly eight locations where panels will not be visually intrusive; the city operates 83 signals in total and will prioritize locations that have experienced the most outages or are most critical for traffic flow. The battery backup will also power cameras the city uses for detection and incident review, Schooley added.
Councilmembers asked technical and deployment questions. Bill asked whether the system would form a microgrid; Schooley said signals remain individually powered but are networked by the city's fiber for communications. Questions about camera backup power, battery cycling and life, and the percentage of intersections that could be solar-powered were all addressed in the presentation.
Schooley credited Andrew Drummond in IT and John Culp in community development for help implementing the pilot and said staff will pursue further deployments and monitoring data to inform wider rollout.