Skip to main content

Jenoptik goes green at the roadside

Wind, solar and hydrogen power can be used to keep its temporary speed cameras going
By Adam Hill October 3, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
No CO2 is generated on-site with iTascar (image credit: Jenoptik)

Jenoptik has developed green power sources for its temporary speed camera enforcement cameras.

The company says it has delivered, over the last 20 years, 500 Temporary Automated Speed Cameras At Roadworks (Tascar) schemes which use its Specs average speed cameras and Vector infra-red lighting system, to enforce the essential limits in place to keep drivers safe and traffic flowing.

These cameras have needed to be connected to the power grid or to diesel generators. Until now, that is: iTascar uses renewable and zero carbon power only - through a combination of wind, solar and hydrogen power - which means no CO2 is generated on-site.

The iTascar system is designed to be energy efficient with the Vector infra-red lights only activated when the Vector camera’s shutter is used.

Reduced power draw means the system can be fully operational even through winter, 24/7, where other renewable energy-powered systems only work during daylight and fair weather, Jenoptik says.
 
The environmental benefits of iTascar are enhanced by the co-location of Airly air quality monitoring sensors, mounted to the camera columns to provide 24/7 monitoring throughout the roadworks site.  

“The technology has performed really well and the fuel cell arrangements have proved very successful,” explained Bob Feurtado, senior traffic manager, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure.

“The air quality monitoring provides useful data and Jenoptik have worked collaboratively with Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and our stakeholders.”
 
The system has been successfully used at a number of UK sites, including the A11 Concrete Roads Replacement scheme, where power was not easily available and air quality was of particular importance, the manufacturer explains.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Jenoptik to present non-invasive enforcement systems
    September 7, 2016
    Jenoptik’s Traffic Solutions Division will use the ITS World Congress Melbourne to present a range of traffic enforcement systems which are active in Australia and around the world: the company aims to demonstrate how it is improving roads, journeys and communities with 30,000 cameras operational in over 80 countries and with 480 staff working on traffic solutions and more than 50 million plates read every day.
  • Close shave for Brazilian project
    June 12, 2015
    Signing the order to equip a new control room just 45 days before the city hosts a major sporting event is challenging - but some deadlines just cannot be moved. There is nothing like a deadline to concentrate minds and effort as Mitsubishi and the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte discovered in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup. Although municipal authorities had been considering a new command centre for years, it was the hosting of the World Cup last summer that provided the final impetus.
  • Idris paves the way for loop based speed enforcement
    February 1, 2012
    With the Idris system now validated as a speed verification tool, the way is open for loops to be used in more complex enforcement applications. Diamond Consulting Services (DCS), developer of the Idris inductive loop-based vehicle detection and classification system, has recently successfully conducted validation trials which, the company says, open the way for Idris to be used for speed verification and loop-based sensors to be used for more complex applications such as speed-on-green and differential spe
  • A more equitable approach to road charging: is the technology there yet?
    September 8, 2023
    Thinking around road user charging, distance-based payments, and even mileage rationing is ever-widening with new concepts and suggestions being aired and brought forward every other week. Yet, as Jorgen Petersen of Systra explains, there are already many solutions in place throughout the world which promote modal shift, reduce traffic and improve air quality…