Solar fountains
Many of today’s solar fountains are on a grander scale now that city planners have begun to include them in cities around the world. Old water features are being refurbished to include solar energy, and new fountains include it from the onset. Fountains powered by the sun are now not just for private residences to enjoy, but for entire cities.
Cascading solar fountains are all over, in many cities, all around the world. There may even be solar powered fountains in your city, in your neighborhood, and you may not even know it.
Here are just a few examples of solar powered fountains, around the world:
• Pacific Park Fountain in Newcastle, Australia – A fixture in the city since 1982, this water feature went solar in 2004. It is Australia’s first solar powered fountain. The solar panel is on a tracker – it follows the sun throughout the day, maximizing the power output of the pumps, so that the water can spray high throughout the day. The fountain does not run at night. It was refurbished not just to utilize solar power and to thereby save energy, but to save water, as well. The truth is, were it not for these energy-saving and water-saving technologies, the fountain would be too expensive to run, and it would have been still and dried up today.
• Public splash fountain in Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada – This fountain, intended for waterplay, utilizes solar energy to heat the water, rather than pump it. Dark granite slabs pick up solar energy to heat the water.
• Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado – This center features a smoking solar fountain. The fountain sprays a light mist that looks more like smoke than water.
Convince your town or city to refurbish an old fountain and make it solar. Convince them that any new fountains should be solar fountains.