05 Sep Harnessing the sun for security

Is it time for your organisation to start investing in green technology for their security needs, asks Ephrem Tesfai, Sales Engineering Manager META at Genetec?

This year’s theme for Earth Day was Invest In Our Planet and was a wake-up call for businesses, individuals, and government agencies alike to invest in green innovations to build a more resilient future economy and safer world.

In turn, solar-powered cameras are quickly becoming the go-to solution for city-wide security operations. Besides, some of the most cutting-edge automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology are assisting law enforcement and public safety organisations in achieving their sustainability goals.

Why choose solar-powered devices

Investing in green technology isn’t a new concept. Many progressive local agencies recognise their role in decreasing global emissions and have already taken steps to lead renewable energy initiatives and buy more environmentally friendly solutions.

Many law enforcement and public safety agencies, for example, are opting for solar-powered cameras for their city-wide security projects when given the option. Solar-powered cameras have the advantage of being energy efficient. Small solar panels are included, which continuously collect energy from the sun to charge built-in batteries.

There is no need to develop more infrastructure, alter the city environment, or tamper with green spaces because solar-powered devices don’t require a typical power source or wiring. The cameras can be swiftly installed in remote regions or anywhere law enforcement needs them. As their ongoing investigations or aims change, they can easily move them to different parts of the city.

Solar-powered cameras are also cost-effective for police forces. The total cost of ownership is reduced and budget and resources are maximised by having an off-grid, easy-to-deploy, infrastructure-free solution.

Solar-powered ALPR solutions

Solar-powered cameras can be used for more than just video surveillance. Throughout the day and night, numerous law enforcement organisations use automatic license plate recognition technology to improve vehicle-centric investigations.

Solar-powered cameras are simple to deploy because they require no wire or electricity. They can begin gathering vehicle leads in as little as a few minutes and transfer the device to different crime hotspots as needed. It can also take advantage of their mobility by setting up a virtual stakeout in any area, at any time of day or night.

Law enforcement organisations now have a totally sustainable vehicle-centric investigations option with this type of camera, as it has been designed for low power consumption at the edge and it relies on the cloud for more extensive ALPR analytics processing.

Additional optimisations ensure that the ALPR device is always active, but only collects data when a vehicle is identified. All of this increases the device’s energy efficiency, allowing it to operate for nearly two days even when there is little to no sunlight to charge the batteries.

Reducing energy consumption and costs

The benefits of implementing green technologies are multi-fold. Not only do they assist a city in reducing carbon emissions, but it’s a cost-effective option that allows organisations to stretch their budgets and invest in other critical resources.

In addition, as infrastructure and electricity savings pile up, the shift to a lower operational cost makes this technology more accessible to all law enforcement organisations, large and small.

So, are we likely to see more enterprises adopt solar-powered solutions as part of their security strategy in the future? It’s the right choice to make, and as the renewable energy market grows, the demand for site security will naturally follow suit.