So is the plan by Deno Vourderis, grandson of Wonder Wheel founder Constantinos Dionysios (Denos) Vourderis. The project includes 32 solar panels connected to batteries that will store solar energy during the day to light the ride at night.
The Wonder Wheel lights were removed about 30 years ago due to safety concerns. Vourderis, who turned 29 in June, says he has spent the last four years researching, purchasing and creating the eco-friendly installation. He then created his own circuit panels and attached them to a battery, to harness electricity without Con Edison – “off the grid,” as it’s called.
Last February, while the Park was closed for the winter, Vourderis – after spending four years of studying and $30,000 for equipment and supplies -- was ready to install the panels.
“I built a fail-safe mode system into it, so if for some reason I lost power or if someone broke in at night and tampered with the circuits, the battery system would shut itself off and no one could turn it back on but me. Even if someone were to get on top of the car and open the box while it was on, and licked it, they couldn’t get an electrical shock" because the voltage is so low -- about equivalent toi the power needed for a cell phone, Vourderis said.
“I can turn it on -- and program a show -- from anywhere in the world with a computer or even a cell phone, as long as WIFI is available. I can make the lights move to the music. "
Vourderis still has to pay an independent company around $5000 to inspect his work when he’s finished. And now he has to work overtime installing the solar panels, because he works during the day with the rest of the Vourderis family managing Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park. But after four years he believes he’s done something that will contribute to the public good – to demonstrate on an internationally known icon that alternative energy is practical.
“I didn’t do this to save money on electricity,” he said. “I’ve always been environmentally conscious. I don’t drink out of plastic bottles. I have a metal container and I fill it up with Brita water. I went to Manhattan today and bought a Coke and brought the can all the way back to Coney Island with me because I wanted to make sure it was recycled.
“It’s our only planet, and we need to protect it. If everybody does something, some people don’t have to do everything.”
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Several companies and organizations offer alternatives to on-the-grid power. One of them is Community Energy, Inc., which says it can switch you to wind, solar, and hydro sources for a 6 percent increase in your electric bill, or solely wind energy for a 10 percent increase.. Its website is communityenergyinc.com============================================================================================
The Wonder Wheel
The WW was built in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company using Bethlehem steel forged right on the premises. The website for Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park states that the WW has had “a perfect safety record for its entire history.” It adds that “each year, the entire 400,000-pound ride is overhauled and painted to protect it from the weather, wear and tear.”
The Wonder Wheel was named an official New York City landmark in 1989.
A full-size replica of the Wheel stands in Disney's California Adventure, and in Yokahama, Japan.
The only time the Wonder Wheel stopped turning during normal operation, the site says, was on July 13, 1977, when the entire northeast lost electrical power in a blackout. Riders were brought down safely by workers hand-cranking the Wheel.
The Wheel, with a diameter of 140 feet, stands 150 feet high, and can accommodate 144 people at once.
