I live in Chicagoland and along the tollways are poles with what appear to be solar panels attached to them. Usually the pole has 2 panels and if I had to guess, I'd say each is about 2 feet by 1 foot in size.
They don't seem to be near any signs and I haven't identified a pattern of how they are place (for example, they don't appear to be place every "x" miles).
What are they?
2006-08-02 12:10:45 · 6 answers · asked by Ruth L 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Commuting
sometimes they put solar panels near bridges and overpasses...it is connected to a sensor that reads pavement temp in the winter so they can salt it if the bridges ice over
2006-08-02 12:16:36 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you see is a panel to charge a battery that powers a traffic counter. There are usually lines in the road (not paint) from the counter being installed. These lines are the tar that filled the cuts in the asphalt made during the installation.
2006-08-02 13:32:34 · answer #2 · answered by wzzrd 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would assume they are solar panels; which are charging a battery;which is, probably, providing back-up power to something. BOY! did I miss my calling. I should have been a lawyer. All I ended up saying is "I don't know" but that is what solar panels look like and what they do.
2006-08-02 12:20:14 · answer #3 · answered by dulcrayon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Build Solar Power Easily - http://SolarPower.duebq.com/?jRh
2017-04-06 00:23:38 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
generally they are installed for emergency road side phones ( the little yellow box mounted on the same pole), or the new radar info plaques, to inform you of how fast you are going.
2006-08-02 12:21:32 · answer #5 · answered by ron and rasta 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It powers highway signs, mostly.
2006-08-04 05:30:42 · answer #6 · answered by John K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋