A solar-powered waste compactor is a

smart device A smart device is an electronic device, generally connected to other devices or networks via different wireless protocols (such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, near-field communication, Wi-Fi, LiFi, or 5G) that can operate to some extent interactively an ...

that reads a

waste bin Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...

's fill-level in real-time and triggers an automatic

compaction Compaction may refer to: * Soil compaction, for mechanically induced compaction near the ground surface * Compaction of ceramic powders * Compaction (geology), part of the process of lithification involving mechanical dewatering of a sediment by ...

of the

waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste pr ...

, effectively increasing the bin's capacity by up to 5-8 times. The compaction mechanism runs on a battery, which is charged by the

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a pho ...

. Fully charged, the battery reserve lasts for approximately 3–4 weeks depending on the compaction frequency and usage patterns. Solar-powered waste compactors are typically connected to a remote software platform through wireless 2G/3G networks. The platform enables waste collection managers to access real-time data analytics and route optimization. Solar-powered compactors are primarily used in high foot traffic areas such as town centers, shopping malls, amusement parks, beaches, transit stations and sports stadiums.

Advantages

Some of the benefits of using solar-powered waste compactors include:{{Cite web, url=http://bigbelly.com/benefits/, title=Bigbelly – Benefits, website=bigbelly.com, access-date=2016-08-01 * Reduced frequency of waste collections * Cleaner and more hygienic public spaces * Historical waste collection data analytics * Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions * Savings in operational waste collection costs

Advantages

See also

References

External links