Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 2:59:27 PM - by Danny Vo

An Illinois town will soon be using solar energy technology to help power a new generation of energy efficient streetlights.

An article in the Downers Grove Reporter in Illinois says that local officials have approved 25 LED streetlights that will run on a combination of wind and solar. The report quoted one commissioner as saying that the setup would pay for itself over time.

The total project will reportedly cost about $310,000, although community block grants are expected to pay for nearly half of that amount.

Overall, solar energy is emerging as a useful tool for a variety of different applications, and as the concept of distributed solar continues to grow, more and more towns may see photovoltaic panels appearing on their streetlights.

With distributed solar energy, utilities generate a large amount of power by placing a large number of panels on things like commercial buildings, homes and other fixtures instead of building large industrial-scale projects in a single location.