14 Nebraskaland • June 2022
IN THE FIELD
By Eric Fowler
SOLAR LIGHTS
Any angler who likes fishing at night has figured out how
to navigate in the darkness, be it on the water or shore. But
you won't find many boaters who wouldn't prefer having a
light they could aim for when it's time to head back to the
boat ramp.
Thanks to technological advances in LED lighting,
solar panels and batteries, the Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission has been able to install lights in several locations
around the state where getting them was previously cost
prohibitive or simply not possible due to the location.
Running an electrical line one-half mile to an improved
access on the south side of Conestoga Lake State Recreation
Area, for instance, would have cost $22,000 for the wire alone.
The solar light that was added during an Aquatic Habitat and
Angler Access Program project completed there in 2018 cost
$8,500.
The lights include an LED bulb, a solar panel and batteries.
Advances in LED lighting, which converts 90 percent of the
energy it uses into light and use one-fifth of the power to
create the same amount of light as the sodium- or mercury-
vapor lights they are replacing, have made the combination
feasible. This efficiency brings the size and cost of solar
panels and batteries required to power them down to a
practical level. Additionally, the LEDs last two to four times
as long.
Solar-powered lights have also been placed on the tips of
breakwaters protecting three bays and boat ramps at Lewis
and Clark Lake, and the marina bay at Sherman Reservoir.
"That's a game changer," said Jordan Katt, motorboat access
program coordinator with the Commission's fisheries division.
"The rock can shift, so you can't bury wire. That's asking for
trouble."
At Enders Reservoir, improvements to a low-water boat
ramp at the south end of the dam will include a solar light.
The issue there isn't the cost of the wire, it is the fact that the
location is below the normal water line of the reservoir.
Locations of other lights include boat ramps on the
Missouri River at Indian Cave State Park, Burchard Wildlife
Management Area and Flanagan Lake in Omaha, and at a few
other locations in state parks and recreation areas.
Without the advancements, and the corresponding drop in
price that often comes with new technology, many of these
locations would remain in the dark.
"It's giving us an opportunity to light it up," Katt said.
A solar light illuminates a brick house and parking area on the south side of Conestoga State Recreation Area near Denton in
Lancaster County. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND