Listen to this story:

The quick read: The City of Kelowna has placed its third order for Clear Blue Technologies' Senti Ampio smart solar lights, bringing the city's total to 25 units at a lifetime contract value of about $75,000. The lights need no trenching, no wiring, no grid connection and no ongoing electricity costs, and they keep working when the power goes out. Kelowna first chose the product in 2025 and keeps coming back, which is the simplest test of whether a city purchase is actually working.

The City of Kelowna has ordered more solar street lights, and this time the story is worth a closer look.

Clear Blue Technologies announced on November 5 that Kelowna has placed its third order for the company's Senti Ampio smart solar lights.

The city first selected the product in 2025.

This order brings Kelowna's total to 25 smart off-grid lighting systems, at a lifetime contract value of approximately $75,000.

Why this purchase is different

Most city spending announcements come with a big number and a vague promise.

This one is small, specific, and repeatable, which is exactly how a city should buy things.

The Senti systems do not require trenching, wiring or grid connection, or ongoing electricity costs.

They run on solar power and keep operating when the grid is offline, which makes them a piece of public safety infrastructure, not just a light on a pole.

Every lighting contract includes the company's Energy-as-a-Service offering, which typically makes up about 53 per cent of the total contract value and covers ongoing monitoring and maintenance.

A repeat customer is the real test

"The City of Kelowna is a typical example of a customer issuing repeat orders while benefiting from our unique EaaS service," said Miriam Tuerk, Clear Blue's co-founder and chief executive.

"These long-term customers provide the foundation of our recurring revenue business and strategy."

That is the part that matters for Kelowna taxpayers.

A city that tries a product once is experimenting.

A city that orders it a third time has seen it work.

Clear Blue says its lighting segment now generates more than 60 per cent of its Energy-as-a-Service revenue, and it expects the segment to contribute approximately $600,000 of incremental pre-paid operating cash flow in 2026.

The lesson for City Hall

Kelowna spends millions every year, and not every dollar gets this kind of scrutiny.

Here is a purchase that costs the city no ongoing electricity, needs no expensive trenching, and keeps working during a power outage.

It is the kind of practical, common-sense spending that taxpayers should expect more of: small, proven, and judged on whether it works rather than on how impressive the announcement sounds.

Twenty-five lights will not transform the city.

But a city that buys what works, and buys it again, is a city spending money the right way.

Source: Clear Blue Technologies / Newsfile Corp., November 5, 2026.