Demonstration project highlights AreaStar LED lighting technology.

At Nyabugogo Taxi Park in Kigali, Rwanda, Laser Guidance has installed three AreaStar LED lampheads powered by a solar power station hoisted atop an existing three-arm lamp pole.

In meetings in during our visit to Kigali in 2014, former Mayor Fidele Ndayisaba invited Laser Guidance to install the lights to prove the reliability of the AreaStar system. The conventional high-pressure sodium lights frequently go out due to power outages, creating safety and security dangers for the many hundreds of travelers using the park every night.

On return to the US, a three-light system was prepared and shipped to Rwanda the following spring. In June of 2015, Sales VP Max Karst went to Rwanda, completed the pre-install test at the company's shop in Kigali, then the Laser Guidance installation team organized by local Rep Pascal Bakarani went to work. The unit was trucked to the Nyabugogo site where Kigali city electrical utility personnel performed final assembly and the unit was raised into place atop an existing pole after the HPS cobrahead fixtures had been removed.

After a suspenseful afternoon solving last minute technical challenges, the AreaStar system was finally secured in place just as dusk fell. As the night got darker, the system automatically switched on the lamps, providing a soft white light to the area below. A quick survey of the people on the scene said they appreciated the nature of the light as opposed to the harsh orange light of the old sodium lamps.

After a year, the system is still working reliably, the only lights continuing to operate through numerous power outages. The company is hopeful that the city will soon commit to replacing all the lights at the park.