Alfred Priess

Touché, a self-sufficient lighting mast made of aluminium.
Touché, a self-sufficient lighting mast made of aluminium.

Innovative solar cell mast

Touché from Alfred Priess:

The lighting mast of the future is self-sufficient - and made of aluminium.

In connection with the climate conference in Copenhagen, the Danish company Alfred Priess launched a proposal for the lighting mast of the future. The mast, made of aluminium is self-sufficient, due to a combination of solar cells, battery technology and diode lights.

The innovative solar cell mast Touché lighted up during the climate conference at the end of 2009, since it integrated several green technologies in one single solution. The solar cells, placed along the whole mast in extruded aluminium, offer enough energy for the single mast, making it self-sufficient. And with the integrated battery technology, it is even possible to store the energy.

”It is finally possible to unite design and a clear conscience...” says Alfred Priess about the zero carbon lighting mast, designed by architect Bjarne Schläger – with Alumeco as sparring partner in terms of aluminium.

Thoughts, drawings and calculations

Alfred Priess has supplied Danish streets and alleys, squares and piazzas with lighting masts for many years - often in traditional materials like steel and wood. Thus, aluminium is quite a new material for Alfred Priess to work with:

- Alfred Priess himself has been in charge of the technical part and turned to Alumeco, since the mast was going to be made of extruded aluminium. We had a meeting, where the client told us about the project and shared his thoughts.

- We took the drawings home from the meeting and thought, drew and made calculations. Subsequently, we had optimised all aluminium parts. The optimisations resulted in a lower price and a really good product, says Anders Kildevæld, Sales Coordinator at Alumeco, about the work with Touché.

Future-proof and sustainable

In terms of design and the use of recyclable materials, Touché is both future-proof and sustainable. The mast pipe itself is made of aluminium. The flexible solar cells are placed on the mast and integrated directly in the mast construction. On the cells, an acrylic pipe is placed for protection of the solar cells. The light part is based on diode technology, enabling the right light:

- Touché is completely cable-free. So you just mount the mast somewhere sunny and that’s it! Thus, Touché can really be used anywhere and it has great potential - also in terms of export. Right now, we are designing version 2 of the mast with new optimisations, says Anders Kildevæld.

Facts about Touché
  • Extruded aluminium
  • 100% zero carbon
  • 18% solar cells cover the whole length of the mast
  • 100% recyclable materials
  • Cable-free "Plug & Play"
  • Integrated light control that turns on the mast when it gets dark.