Savi Installs Solar-Powered RFID Readers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–Savi Technology is deploying solar-powered radio frequency identification (RFID) readers and signposts for defense and commercial customers.

The company mounted solar panels and RFID signposts on poles at a major U.S. Army supply facility in Kuwait. The solar-powered signposts activate RFID tags attached to vehicles or equipment, and then the tags report asset positions to RFID readers. The readers relay the information to Savi’s Site Manager software. The facility can track more than 25,000 tags per day with the new system, according to Savi.

Plans are underway with the U.S. Department of Defense to expand the use of solar-powered applications to other areas in the Middle East, Savi reports.

On the commercial side, Savi Networks operates an RFID-based network in Colombia that uses solar energy to power Savi RFID signposts and readers that track the status and security of containerized cargo shipments managed by Emprevi Ltda., a Colombia-based provider of logistics and security services for importers and exporters. Solar-powered panels at strategic supply chain checkpoints, including source factories and port facilities, monitor in-transit goods manufactured in and exported from Colombia.

Savi says solar energy is an efficient and environmentally friendly power source for RFID hardware. It also eliminates the need to install electrical infrastructure in remote areas, the company adds.

“Solar energy powers some of the more remote sections of Emprevi’s RFID network that would otherwise lack a constant, dependable power source,” says Mauricio Barberan Canas, president of Emprevi. “While taking advantage of a clean, renewable energy source, the system also leverages highly advanced information and security technologies that greatly improve Emprevi’s supply chain security, visibility and management.”