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The new ferris wheel on LA’s Santa Monica Pier is powered by solar panels and includes 160,000 LEDs on its surface that illuminate at night when the wheel is in action. The original wheel from 1996 was the world’s first solar powered ferris wheel, although the new wheel is also expected to generate 71,000 kilowatt hours of photovoltaic power.
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Is this really a smart idea in the wake of the Mooninite scare and Star Simpson’s trial? What if the Boston Police Department takes a field trip to Santa Monica?
Looks like it would make a good POV project.
I’d love to see some sails or airfoils on the wheel to use the ocean breeze to generate some power as well, mostly just to see if it would work.
No idea if that’s viable, but it seems like it would be if it’s reasonably balanced and allowed to run when not in use.
Heck, they might already have a regenerative motor system on it for all the stops and starts, so you’d literally just have to add vanes. Well, and make sure the structure is able to take the loads…
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