The Problem
A construction site required reliable lighting and security equipment throughout the year. The conventional solution relied on diesel light towers, creating high fuel, rental, maintenance, and labour costs.
An employee had to travel to the site and spend several hours:
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Refilling the diesel reservoirs
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Starting the light towers at night
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Returning in the morning to shut them down
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Checking fuel levels and responding when units stopped operating
In many cases, the light towers continued running longer than necessary or remained on until they ran out of fuel. This increased diesel consumption, created unnecessary engine hours, and resulted in more frequent maintenance and repairs.
The customer therefore faced several challenges:
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High diesel and rental costs
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Significant employee time spent managing the equipment
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Repeated trips to the site
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Risk of lighting or security interruptions when fuel ran out
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Continuous noise and emissions
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Excessive engine runtime and mechanical wear
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More frequent repairs and maintenance
For a site operating 20 diesel light towers over three years, the projected total cost of rental, fuel, and maintenance was approximately $1,883,100. This amount did not include the additional labour cost associated with refueling, starting, stopping, inspecting, and repairing the units.
The Solution
Volts Énergies replaced the conventional diesel light towers with 20 Li-Cube Security hybrid systems.
Each Li-Cube combines:
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Solar energy production
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Battery storage
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Reliable lighting and security power
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Remote monitoring
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A small backup generator used only when solar production is insufficient
Instead of requiring an employee to start and stop an engine every day, Li-Cube operates automatically. Solar energy charges the batteries during the day, and the stored energy powers the lighting and security equipment at night.
The backup generator only operates when required to recharge the batteries, mainly during periods of limited winter solar production. The system therefore eliminates the need for continuous engine operation and substantially reduces onsite intervention.
The Li-Cube was offered at approximately $900 per month, compared with $1,335 per month for a conventional diesel light tower.
The Results
The Li-Cube Security solution delivered measurable financial, operational, and environmental benefits over the three-year simulation:
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Total cost reduced from $1,883,100 to $699,716
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Estimated savings of $1,183,384 over three years
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Approximately 63% lower total operating costs
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165,138 litres of fuel avoided
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Approximately 464.7 tonnes of CO₂e avoided
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Significantly fewer engine hours and maintenance interventions
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Fewer fuel deliveries and emergency service calls
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Reduced risk of lighting and security interruptions caused by empty fuel tanks
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Elimination of daily manual starting and stopping
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Less employee time spent travelling to the site and managing the equipment
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Lower noise levels and improved working conditions
The financial figures above exclude the additional labour savings associated with daily site visits, refueling, inspections, starting and stopping the towers, and responding to fuel-related shutdowns. The actual operational savings could therefore be higher than the documented $1.18 million.
Li-Cube Security replaced a labour-intensive diesel solution with an automated hybrid system that reduced total costs by approximately 63%, eliminated more than 165,000 litres of fuel use, improved reliability, and removed the need for employees to manually manage the light towers every day.