North Beach Bandshell located in Miami, FL was having a new 70’ diameter pavilion built in front of its main stage. They had the design for the pavilion finalized, but did not have a source to power any lighting. We were approached to provide a solar powered lighting solution. The requirements for the project included an average of 0.5 foot-candle light intensity at the ground under the pavilion, and the lights needed to be sea turtle friendly due to the location on Miami Beach. Six lights were requested for the project with an 8 hour illumination time each night.

It is very important for coastal areas to incorporate turtle friendly lighting into projects. Estimates show that only 1 out of 1000 sea turtle hatchlings will survive until adulthood. Once hatched, the turtles make a risky journey to the ocean. Many don’t make it due to natural predators, but an unfortunate number are confused because of improper lighting along beaches and coastlines. In Florida alone, millions of hatchlings die because they are confused by city lights and illuminated roads.

We are able to supply UL listed sea turtle friendly lighting approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. For sea turtle-friendly lighting, the rule of thumb is to emit any wavelength over 560 nm. The lights we supplied for this project emit 595 nm in wavelength. Although the wavelength is one of the most important design criteria for sea turtle friendly lighting, there are other factors that need to be considered too. Incandescent bulbs will emit light in all directions which can be deceiving from a turtle’s perspective. We used LEDs with optics to focus all the light towards the ground instead of in all directions. We also supplied the lights with shields behind the fixtures, so the light did not shine towards the ocean at all.

A photometric layout was created using the six sea turtle friendly lights. We achieved a 0.62 foot candle average which is above the 0.5 foot candle requirement for the project. The lights were designed to be mounted to the pavilions circular support which was elevated at 25’ above ground.



We proposed supplying one large solar array and battery bank to power all six lights, but the customer required each light to be on its own power system. As they requested, we designed six smaller power systems to provide 8 hours of illumination each night. As we normally do, the solar panel and battery configuration was determined by the solar conditions in that area. Local weather and cloudy days were considered in the design criteria along with a typical 3 days of battery backup.

All six systems were installed within a day on site. Due to frequent shows and performances at this site, each system needed to be independently turned off during these times. Our charge controllers are capable of being accessed through a Bluetooth connection via a smart phone or tablet. Each light can be turned on/off for the performances. Our charge controllers also allow for the system to be configured to a new illumination schedule if they decide to change it down the road. Next time you are in Miami, check out our sea turtle friendly solar lighting systems located at the North Beach Bandshell! For most of the lighting systems we offer, a sea turtle friendly light can be supplied. If you have a project that needs lighting and do not have power on site, give us a call (239) 461-5522



Sources:https://www.darksky.org/our-work/sea-turtle-conservation/