TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Not Your Father's Billboard

Salvatore Salamone | Date: 02-17-10 | Comments

The conversion to digital billboards has been under way for a few years. Now, some billboards along U.S. Route 101 in California are getting energy-efficient lighting and solar panels for their electricity. And in other efforts, the industry is looking for ways to include location-specific Wi-Fi messages to motorists (or pedestrians) passing by billboards.

Last week, the Power-Save Energy Co. announced a contract from California Power-Save to supply a grid-tied photovoltaic solar system for installation on a lighted billboard in Sonoma County, Calif. The plan also calls for retrofitting the billboard with high-efficiency lighting.

In a broader perspective, this is just the latest effort that aims to change billboards from static message displays that need power for lighting to dynamic message systems that capture solar power for their use and perhaps even return some to the power grid.

The move to add solar panels to billboards has been under way for years and has gotten a serious boost as heavyweights have become involved. For instance, in December 2007 Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) entered the fray. In its work at that time, PG&E found that the energy collected by solar panels exceeded the amount used by the billboards on a day-to-day basis. This prompted a PG&E spokesman to remark, �This isn't a billboard, it's a power plant.�

Solar-powered billboard (source: PG&E)

Power Needs Grow

Generating more power than a billboard uses is obviously a good thing. It can save the billboard owner money, and help increase the production and use of renewable energy. And in the near future, it might help offset increased energy requirements anticipated as billboards evolve into more dynamic message delivery platforms.

Currently, the main power draw for a billboard is to provide lighting at night. But there�s much buzz in the industry about digital and Wi-Fi-enabled billboards, both of which will require more electricity to operate.

Digital billboards have been growing in popularity due to their ability to change messages without the need for manually plastering a new message over the old.

The timeliness of a message�s delivery is also an attractive feature in some niche applications. For instance, working with Clear Channel Outdoor, the FBI says at least 30 cases have been solved as a direct result of digital billboard publicity, and many others have been solved through the overall publicity efforts that included billboards.

FBI�s Most Wanted billboard in Times Square (source: FBI)

On the Wi-Fi front, billboard operators want to bring in additional revenues by offering advertiser-supported Wi-Fi as a free service to people in the vicinity of a particular billboard.

One of the great appeals today for Wi-Fi enablement is the growing interest in localization. As evidenced by the rising popularity in Yelp, Place Pages for Google Maps and augmented reality apps for the iPhone 3GS, people want information about nearby restaurants and stores, and advertisers want to reach people who are close by.

This is an area where billboards could play an important role. The reason: Billboards have a built-in localization synergy. While many billboards are owned or managed by large conglomerates, 73 percent of billboard revenue comes from local ads, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA). (Total U.S. billboard revenue for 2008 was about $4.6 billion.)

Besides broadcasting lunch specials or one-day discounts on TVs, some see billboards being used in new localization applications such as directly �interacting with smart car technology allowing advertisers the ability to beam information into passing vehicles from outdoor locations,� according to the OAAA.