There’s a reason you don’t see light bulbs hovering in the middle of nowhere. Anything electrical that isn’t sustaining itself off of battery power has to be plugged in. This means that street lights, telephone poles, and even billboards have to be connected to the electrical “grid.”

So what if you could take a billboard off that grid, and save electricity at the same time?

The Verdegy Billboard

Image credit Verdegey>/a>

The trickiest part of any marketing effort is proving that you’re actually as good at what you do as you say you are. In some cases, your reputation for customer service is enough. But sometimes, a small gimmick can actually make your point for you.

That’s the case with Verdegy’s new, completely off-the-grid billlboard. The company, which specializes in the use of green energy, decided to show off their potential by powering their billboard with two vertical turbines and a handful of solar panels.

Verdegy uses HI-VAWT technology. These small, vertical-access turbines are easy to use for projects that don’t require a mammoth turbine that could generate enough power for 500 homes. The billboard itself is fun, grabs attention, and is completely self-sustaining.

Thinking Small

Using turbines to power a billboard could save an immense amount of energy, and open up more possibilities for advertising and road signs. Imagine if you didn’t have to run an electrical wire to every important highway sign or light; you could illuminate dark mountain roads, or add lit road signs to areas where it is too dangerous or simply too expensive to create an electrical grid.

Large turbines can have a huge impact on the area they are used in. But even if you don’t live near a huge wind farm, you can still enjoy the benefits of sustainable energy. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to take a look at the many smaller uses of wind turbines, from individual projects to powering your home.

Got a small VAWT project you’d like to see us talk about? Drop us a line in the comments!