The Bosque School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is using LED lighting to save energy, to save money and to teach students how electricity is produced.

The independent college preparatory school retrofitted the exterior lights in its main parking lot and driveway with Visible Light Solar’s solar/LED lights . School officials estimate the 30 new solar LED lights will save the school $30,000 a year.

“This is one experiential, integrated way our students can get a hands-on education; actually seeing how lighting works will make science relevant to their everday lives,” said Andrew Wooden, head of the Bosque School.

After installing the lights, even neighbors of Bosque School are sleeping better at night. “The LED lights have a white light that is much more neighbor friendly than our old harsh yellow sodium vapor lights,” said Wooden. “In our area, having a dark sky is important. We don’t want lights shooting up into the night sky. The LED lights are far superior in terms of containing the light to where it’s supposed to be, rather than emitting light up and out.

“In fact, it’s so dramatic that from a distance you don’t think the LEDs are on,” he continued. “Remarkably, the light is bright enough and clear enough that you can read a newspaper at night.”

Project Highlights

• Retrofitted 30 incandescent exterior lights with Visible Light Solar’s solar/LED lights. The school estimates it can increase its energy savings up to 99 percent.
• The incandescent exterior lights used appx. 25,000 killowatts per year. The solar LED lights will use only 920 kilowatts per year.
• The school will save an estimated $11,000 in energy costs each year.
• The school’s students will study how energy works and why conservation matters. They will also study Visible Light Solar’s LED and photovoltaic solar lights to learn how electricity is generated, stored and used.