The eco-board, which Ricoh worked on with integrated outdoor services provider Rainmaker, is powered by 96 solar panels and five wind turbines and only lights up when sufficient power has been collected during the day.
It's not the first time the company has trialled this kind of digital signage technology. Last year it unveiled a 47ft high by 126ft long solar powered billboard on the corner of 7th Avenue and 42nd Street in New York's Times Square. The board is powered by 62 solar panels and 24 thin-film PV solar modules and illuminated by 16 LED floodlights.
Like its UK counterpart the billboard, which earlier this year featured one of the largest QR codes ever printed to help raise funds for victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, does not take power from the grid to light it – if there's a lack of sunlight during the day Ricoh has pledged that it will allow the board to go dark. It's counter-intuitive to allow an advertisement to be shrouded in darkness but Ricoh says that it wants to challenge other advertisers and marketers to conjure up equally creative and environmentally friendly ways to promote their own and their client's products.
"Our ethos is to go beyond simply meeting regulatory requirements relating to sustainability by proactively promoting environmentally responsible practices in our own business and for our customers," explained Phil Keoghan, CEO of Ricoh UK, speaking at the launch of the new London board. "The launch of the Ricoh eco-board takes us one step further by reminding wider public audiences to act in a sustainable way and think beyond the obvious when it comes to protecting natural resources."
Most billboards deliver a message but in this instance the billboard is itself the message.
To read more on how you can be environmentally proactive, click here
