Green Gate Access Systems, has installed the UK’s very first solar O&O barriers at Warwick Hospital.
The hospital facilities team contacted Managing Director Neil Sampson last year, to discuss how to allow parking closer to the site for their 300+ auxiliary nurses and key workers, to quicken their arrival on shift.
Warwick Hospital had previously acquired a neighbouring unused transport depot and transformed it into a 350 space car-park, but was without the required power to control access.
Green Gate Access Systems installed two O&O ‘up and down’ car-park barriers at the main entrances, run via a key code for known users with a GSM intercom linked to the facilities office, if visitors required use of the car-park.
The main principal of the installation was to run all of this, up to 300 times per day, per barrier, throughout the winter, on solar power. Using calculations based on day-to-day usage, latitude of the site and accessories linked to the barriers, Green Gate Access Systems chose and installed 24V solar panels to each barrier with an integrated encoder safety device, underground induction sensor and infra-red beam, to guarantee they do not come down on people or vehicles.
The O&O barriers are durable, equipped with a three year warranty, opening and closing in just 2.5 seconds, allowing a faster flow of traffic and banishing tailgating.
The Managing Director said: “We are particularly pleased that the outcome of this project has been as successful as it has. With around 600 vehicles per day entering the car park, the solar barriers mean there is zero running costs and zero carbon foot-print for the entire security system.
“It’s been more than 12 months since the installation and this equipment has seen two winters through without a single breakdown or power down – a testament to the ability of solar power to deliver results – even in cloudy Britain.”
