Florida’s Flagler weigh station site is now using solar power to power the PrePass weigh station technology on site.

The station, located on U.S. 1 and one of 24 PrePass stations in the state, uses a small cluster of photovoltaic cells mounted on top of the roadside PrePass reader. The energy collected can power the reader for up to eight days.

“PrePass’ pioneering efforts can blaze a trail for a more sustainable and eco-friendly transportation system as other intelligent transportation technologies follow suit,” said Richard P. Landis, president & CEO of Help, Inc., the public-private partnership that operates the bypass system.

PrePass allows trucks to bypass weigh stations, automatically sending the vehicle’s information on to officials to electronically comply with state safety, registration and weight requirements. Help Inc. estimates that trucks using PrePass technology saved 22-million gallons of fuel in 2008, reducing emissions by 222,000 metric tons.