Carmanah awarded contract for solar-powered LED bus stops

Stop press: Carmanah has won a Global 100 Eco-Tech Award at the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi, Japan. The awards recognize 100 technologies that "contribute significantly to the resolution of global environmental issues and to the creation of a sustainable fuiture for humankind and earth."

Carmanah will use the cash prize of one million yen (Can$ 10,700) to initiate a scholarship at the University of Victoria.

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Bus stop Carmanah Technologies Corporation has been awarded a contract by Trueform Engineering Ltd. of the UK for the supply of a minimum of 1,200 solar LED-illuminated bus stops.

These units are scheduled for installation throughout the City of London, England, between October 2005 and March 2006. The total value of the contract is in excess of $1.5 million.

"Carmanah is extremely proud to be selected as Trueform's technology partner for London Buses' solar illuminated bus stop project," states Carmanah's CEO, Art Aylesworth. "Due to the high profile of this project and the difficult solar environment in London, the technology development and selection process was the most rigorous that Carmanah has ever experienced and took nearly four years to complete."

Carmanah's extensive experience and energy management expertise have played a valuable role in ensuring these and other London Buses solar projects have performed reliably in London's challenging winter conditions.

Carmanah has been involved with the London solar stop initiative from the outset, including the delivery of the first prototypes in the fall of 2001 and a subsequent series of successful field trials.

Carmanah has already established a track record of developing and delivering several solar projects for London Buses over the past four years. Milestones include:

- Joint development of the first fully integrated solar LED-illuminated bus stop in 2001

- Joint development of the first solar LED-illuminated bus shelter installation in mid-2002

- A field trial of 24 solar bus stops in the Sutton area of Greater London in 2003

- Receipt of the London Buses solar shelter lighting contract in 2003. To-date, nearly 300 systems have been successfully deployed

- An additional field trial of 75 solar bus stops in central London, Kingston and Richmond in 2004.

Carmanah's extensive experience and energy management expertise have played a valuable role in ensuring these and other London Buses solar projects have performed reliably in London's challenging winter conditions.

"To date, this project is Carmanah's largest contract outside of North America," states Richard Sowter, Carmanah's vice president, UK and Europe. "This project reinforces European growth and investment in renewable energy applications and coincides with Carmanah's investment in a European office based in the UK."