WiFi and solar power

Star Tribune Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:20:21 GMT
St. Louis Park sues provider of Wi-Fi system

The city says Arinc's often-delayed solar-powered system doesn't work well. The company says it has met its obligations. ... In late 2006, St. Louis Park selected Arinc to build its much-heralded, long-researched Wi-Fi network -- largely because Arinc, the low bidder, had proposed making it solar-powered. ... With or without Arinc's help, the city will begin removing the network's solar panels and radios this month, said City Manager Tom Harmening. Dealing with the 490 poles that hold up that equipment will be trickier, he said. "It's not a simple matter of just pulling them out," Harmening said. "They're buried in concrete for a reason." A month after directing staff in January to abandon the radios, solar panels and poles erected for the network, the City Council decided to pause before making any decisions about Wi-Fi in the future. In testing what Arinc had built, the city found that small portions of the network provided reliable, high-speed connections. But other, larger portions did not. City staff have said they believe the technology can work -- that the problem was in the implementation. But some council members are concerned, still, about whether solar power is realistic. "They felt they needed to take a step back, gain some perspective and, in about a year, discuss it again with fresh eyes," Harmening said. "What will happen next winter? I don't know."

In a related story, Minneapolis learned that the solar collectors on trees can interfere with wifi networks.
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