Southwest Signs Goes Green

San Antonio’s sun powers a channel-letter sign.
By Susan Conner

The American Southwest ranks among the world’s top solar-energy locations. San Antonio, TX doesn’t experience the intensity of sunshine of El Paso, TX, Las Vegas, or Phoenix, but on the edge of the most intense solar-power concentration in the U.S.

To benefit from San Antonio’s sun-drenched environment, Southwest Signs designed, manufactured and installed the first, 100% solar-powered sign.

Project manager Justin Brister and his Southwest team tested and developed prototypes that could light the sign for five hours a night throughout the week. Located at the Quarry Golf Course and Restaurant, the sign comprises 11 x 8-in. aluminum, reverse channel letters, halo-lit with GE Lumination Tetra Max LEDs, and mounted on a 5 ft. 8 in. x 7 ft. 10 in. aluminum-backer panel. The 12V LEDS are run directly off a 12V battery, which solar panels recharge. 





Southwest Signs (San Antonio, TX) designed, manufactured and installed
the area’s first, 100% solar-powered sign for the Quarry Market restaurant.



Chad Jones, Southwest’s president, met with the Quarry Market team and presented the power-consumption cost savings and the environmental benefits. Dustin Burell, the restaurant’s manager, was thrilled with the design and is now very satisfied with the results.

As Southwest meets with new customers, the Quarry Market sign exemplifies the cost savings of a solar sign.

Southwest, a full-spectrum sign-manufacturing company established in 1946, takes its ecological concerns seriously. It implemented recycling programs throughout its office and in their manufacturing plant. Up to 80% of material used on their projects is either recycled or able to be recycled. They have also teamed with the Underwriter’s Laboratories in developing the first Green Certification Program in the sign industry. 





The sign incorporates GE Lumination Tetra Max LEDs, which are run off
a 12V battery. Solar panels provide the power to recharge the battery.