| Q1 |
 |
How does it generate electricity? |
| A1 |
|
In Japan, wind is mostly seasonal and does not blow
often during some of the seasons. Furthermore, wind blows differently
in urban areas. This makes it difficult to obtain electricity
on a constant basis when wind is the only energy source. Because
of these factors, Ricoh's advertisement tower uses both wind
and sunlight for power generation.
The tower has 26 small wind power generators and 39 solar panels.
It stores electricity produced by these devices in a battery
bank and uses it to switch on the neon with the RICOH logo.
|
| Q2 |
|
What happens if the wind does not blow and the
sun does not come out for a long time? |
| A2 |
|
The neon will go off if there is not enough electricity,
although the probability of that happening is low. Many people may think that
it is meaningless in terms of advertisement if it really goes off. When installing
this neon advertisement tower, however, Ricoh adopted a daring, unique idea that
is rarely adopted in other advertisements: just give it up when nature is in a
bad mood.
The fact of the matter is that we could use commercial electricity when not enough
electricity is generated. Nonetheless, the tower does not have any schemes for
using such electricity.
Yachts will stop when there is no wind. The natural environment originally has
its own way. Ricoh thinks that it now needs to change its ideas in such a drastic
way so that it will not have any impact upon the environment and can be allowed
to use natural energies.
|
| Q3 |
|
Has the neon actually gone off? |
| A3 |
|
Yes, it has. It went off around 20:00 on October 21,
2003. It got cloudy in the afternoon the previous day, and it rained all day on
the relevant day and the wind did not blow hard.
On that day, the Japan Series was held off because of the rain. The weeping rain
caused by the sorrows of Hanshin Tigers fans due to the successive defeats in
the first and second games might have extinguished the neon.
|
| Q4 |
|
Isn't it noisy when the wind is very strong? Isn't
it dangerous if there is a sudden gust of wind? |
| A4 |
|
The optimum wind force (see note 1) for wind power
generation is reportedly force 6. The advertisement tower has adopted a system
to control the revolution of wind turbines when the wind force exceeds 7 and a
strong burden is cast upon the wind turbines. Consequently, wind turbines rotate
at a fixed speed even if the wind blows hard, and noise is controlled.Even if
a typhoon hits Osaka, wind turbines will not rotate too quickly or break. Thus,
wind turbines are very safe.
In addition, the wind turbines used for Ricoh's neon tower are state-of-the-art
wind power generators. They have adopted clever devices to efficiently generate
electricity in urban areas, where usually only a slight breeze blows and there
are many air turbulences.
To move wind turbines that stopped, a strong wind force is necessary at the initial
stage. Because of this, traditional wind turbines could not restart rotating if
the wind force was weak.
In light of this, a new method was devised that uses electricity from a battery
for only six seconds every minute to rotate the blades. Once the blades start
rotating, they will keep on rotating with the help of the wind as gliders keep
on flying.
| Note 1. |
"Wind force" is used as an indicator of wind
strength. Wind force 6 means "boughs wobble, the wind is humming in electric
cables, and it is difficult to open an umbrella." If the wind force is 7,
the wind is very strong and "whole trees nod in the wind, and it is difficult
to walk against the wind." |
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