Here Comes the Sun

Megacenter harnesses solar power to illuminate parking lot collections

Lady Gaga, the Dallas Stars, the Dallas Mavericks and parking lots might seem like strange bedfellows, unless you’re heading to the American Airlines Center to watch a concert or game. By the time the striking, high-tech facility with the signature arches in downtown Dallas celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2011, 26 million people had gathered at the world-class facility to see their favorite athletes and entertainers.

Most of those guests and attendees of events held since then drove to the arena, so they required a safe, convenient place to park. The center obliged by providing approximately 9,000 parking spaces at eight lots and a garage within walking distance, where drivers have two payment options: buy pre-paid parking passes or pay cash. At parking rates of $10 to $30 per vehicle per event, that’s a significant revenue stream.

Fast forward to 2012. While the center had a mechanized system to count cars as they enter the garage and parking lots, it was difficult to compare the number of vehicles with the amount of revenue that arena employees collected. Joe Heinlein, American Airlines Center’s IT director, turned to perimeter security to illuminate the problem and determine whether all the cash collected was accounted for.

“We just wanted to get a better handle on what was going on in those lots,” Heinlein said. “There’s a lot of cash out there, and the parking areas are spread out. We wanted greater security for both customers and venue employees, while gaining better visibility of parking lot collections to compare vehicle counts with parking revenues.”

Heinlein called Rick Matoy, CEO of Global Security Integration, which had worked on an inside security project at the center three years ago. After researching products on the market, Matoy recommended MicroPower Technologies’ Helios solar wireless surveillance system to provide parking lot and perimeter surveillance.

Based in San Diego, Calif., MicroPower Technologies Inc. is a privately financed, solar-powered, wireless camera provider.

“I had just heard about this new product. It seemed to fit the bill for the center by providing answers to questions that I call “the weird and the wonderful,” Matoy said.

End-to-End Design

Because the peripheral parking lots for American Airlines Center are not owned by the facility, their availability can fluctuate like Dallas weather in winter. For example, Lot F won’t be available after construction begins there this summer, so it was critical to have a solution that was mobile and easily adaptable if a parking lot could no longer be used.

“Because the parking lots are covered in asphalt and cement, trenching and running cables was extremely cost prohibitive. That was one of the things we really had to take into account,” Heinlein said. “Did we want to dig up the ground? Did we want to run power? Did we want to run Ethernet to these locations, only to find out that in six months everything is going to change?”

After moving from Southern California to the Dallas area nine years ago, Matoy recognized a need for solar wireless surveillance in the deer hunting community. “Deer hunters wanted cameras with solar so they could look at deer while they were feeding, but there was nothing available,” he said.

By the time American Airlines Center contacted Matoy, there were some solar wireless perimeter security systems on the market. But he concluded that many were too complicated because they were comprised of products from different companies.

“It was much too involved,” Matoy said. “What l liked about Micropower is that they’re building everything. It’s a complete system designed to work end to end.”

“We basically go from camera to the VMS,” acknowledged Aaron Tankersley, MicroPower Technologies CEO and president. “We’re still the only company that I’m aware of that actually has an entire system that is designed at the system level and works. It’s not cobbled together from products from different companies.”

Low-power Cameras

A camera that requires a low amount of power is key to creating a successful solar wireless surveillance system, according to Tankersley.

“If you’re putting together your own solution, you can take a typical camera and add a wireless transmitter to it,” he said. “The camera is 3 to 5 watts and the wireless transmitter is 3 to 5 watts, so you’re somewhere in the 5- to 10-watt range. Our system, which has been designed from the ground up, is half a watt for camera plus the transmitter. The camera is designed to be ultra-low power.”

That allows a MicroPower camera to use a small battery and solar panel to power it. The charged battery is effective for five days, which enables the camera and system to be used in locations that have cloudy, colder weather.

“We see cameras charging in the rain with no problem,” Tankersley said. “We have seen the cameras work through December and January in Massachusetts. Dallas can have pretty severe weather, but the system works through the winter months there, as well.”

In April 2012, GSI and MicroPower began installing 13 Helios solar wireless cameras at access points around the American Airlines Center parking lots. The system includes five hubs that run the cameras and a main monitoring station in the garage, where the director of parking can keep an eye on security and revenue collection.

The system had its challenges, which included cell phone interference from thousands of guests using their mobile phones simultaneously. “When you have a camera that is 500 yards away from the building, and 25,000 people arrive at a parking lot with all their mobile phones looking for a Wi-Fi signal, you have a very challenging, noisy RF environment,” Tankersley said.

Since installing the system, American Airlines Center has seen its parking lot revenues increase. “It certainly changes behaviors when employees know there’s a possibility that their actions are being watched,” Heinlein said.

The system has also increased security for guests and employees of the center. Let the sun shine in.

This article originally appeared in the June 2013 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Mall of America Deploys AI-Powered Analytics to Enhance Parking Intelligence

    Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations. With this expansion, Mall of America (MOA) has boosted operational efficiency, improved safety and security, and enabled more informed decision-making around employee scheduling and streamlining transportation for large events. Read Now

  • Security Industry Association Launches New “askSIA” AI Tool

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has unveiled a brand-new SIA member benefit – askSIA, a conversational AI agent designed to help users get the most out of their SIA membership, easily access SIA resources and find the latest information on SIA’s training and courses, reports and publications, events, certification offerings and more. SIA members can easily find askSIA by visiting the SIA homepage or looking for the askSIA icon in the top left of webpages. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Industry Embraces Mobile Access, Biometrics and AI

    A combination of evolving workplace dynamics, technology innovation and new user expectations is changing how people enter and interact with physical spaces. Access control is at the heart of these changes. Combined with biometrics and AI, mobile access control has become increasingly crucial for deploying entry solutions that are seamless, secure and adaptive to user needs. Read Now

  • Sustainable Video Solution Delivered for Landmark City of London Office Development

    An advanced, end-to-end video solution from IDIS, with a focus on reducing waste and costs, has helped a major office development in the City of London align its security with sustainability objectives. Read Now

  • DHS to End ‘Shoes-Off’ Travel Policy

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced a new policy today which will allow passengers traveling through domestic airports to keep their shoes on while passing through security screening at TSA checkpoints. Read Now

New Products

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis.

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.