Transit shelter with self-contained illumination system

Claim 1

A shelter structure of the type comprising a plurality of walls having a roof supported thereby, said structure having a self-contained illumination system, said structure comprising: a first wall configured as a module comprising a pair of panels, at least one of which is light transmissive, maintained in a spaced apart, generally plane-parallel relationship by closure means so as to define a substantially enclosed interior volume; an electrical storage battery disposed in said interior volume; a plurality of fluorescent lamps disposed in said interior volume; a plurality of lamp ballasts each disposed in said interior volume each ballast in electrical communication with one of said fluorescent lamps and with said battery; a roof supported by said wall module; a photovoltaic generator disposed on said roof and in electrical communication with the battery; and a power controller in electrical communications with the photovoltaic generator, the lamps and the battery, said controller disposed in said interior volume and operative to sense the level of charge of the battery and the level of power being produced by the photovoltaic generator and to control the charging of the battery and the illumination of the lamps in response thereto.