Definitive Guide to Solar Street Light: Everything You Need to Know

INTRODUCTION

Photo Courtesy: Solar Electric Power Company

Are you considering lighting a specific area in your neighborhood?

Perhaps you want to update your existing solar lights?

The good news!

Solar lighting offers a more cost-efficient option to the standard mains powered ones.

In this e-book, we will guide you on everything you need to know about solar street lights.

We will provide you with information on what is it, how solar street light works, its cost, how to choose the best one, its types, wattages and a lot more.

So, without further ado, let us ask you one question:

ARE YOU NOW READY?

CHAPTER 1:

Solar Street Light: What is Solar Street Light

A solar street lighting system is one of the biggest single expenditure for most cities across the globe.

Staying updated with new advancements and adopting solar-powered street lights dramatically lessens greenhouse emissions and electricity expenses.

Photo Courtesy: ERS

You see:

Solar panel street lights can be an economically viable alternative in most applications.

Not just in regions where the price of offering electricity is too costly, but also in cases where lowering running costs is a major priority.

In this chapter, we will discuss the components of a solar street light.

Let’s dive in.

Solar Panel Street Lights Components

Here’s a short overview of the components utilized in the majority of solar street lighting systems.

Pole

The pole is always the final component to any solar street lighting system.

You see:

The pole should be tall enough for the solar to mount above the fixture and strong enough to support the solar.

However, it must also guarantee the fixture is connected at the proper height for the perfect light spread on the surface.

Fixture Mounting Bracket

This solar pole lights component is given to mount the fixture to a pole for a given length.

It can range from several inches, like the side of pole Tenon bracket that is five inches to two feet to several feet out from the pole like the side of pole bracket that is normally four to 8 feet.

However, it can come in lengths of approximately 12 to 15 feet when needed.

Solar Light Fixture

These days, LED fixtures are the most sought-after pairing for the assembly of solar street lights for home.

Nevertheless, others lamps are still accessible.

The light fixture must offer the necessary light levels on the ground for simple visibility while offering the most efficient lighting.

Light Controls

The light controls are situated inside the battery box.

It offers the on and off functionality of the solar powered street lights.

You see:

The controls also operate the proper profile of the system for customization of the run times.

Solar Battery Assembly

This includes the wiring and batteries to hook to the light fixture and solar panel assembly.

You need to remember that the batteries should be sized for at least 5 days autonomy.

This is to offer a long lifespan for the batteries.

Solar Panel Assembly

This is composed of three major parts:

1. hardware
2. mounting bracket
3. solar panel assembly

CHAPTER 2

How to Make Solar Street Light

Photo Courtesy: Instructables

After knowing the different components of a solar street lighting system, what’s next?

In this section, we’ll teach you how to make a solar street light in 10 easy steps!

1. Make a document in 123d Design and choose the polyline tool and make these connections lines:

• 7-cm long line at 140°angle
• 10-cm long line at 120° angle
• 23-cm long line at a 90° angle

2. Use the spline tool to bent the edge by clicking on every vertex.

Click enter after you hit the last endpoint.

Remove the lines form the last step to have a much cleaner look.

Utilize the offset tool to create two new offline sets.

Attach the lines using4 lines connecting every endpoint individually to the one in the center.

3. Extrude the inner face of the arc by 4cm.

Transfer that shapes a bit father. Extrude the outer face of the arc by 1cm.

4. Make the base.

Snap the base face of the bigger pole to the upper of the base.

Switch the smaller pole to the similar angle as the bigger pole and snap the inner part of the rail to the outer part of the pole.

5. Make the rectangle.

Include a 3-point curve across the upper.

Remove the line in the middle of the semi-circle and rectangle.

Extrude the face at least 6cm.

6. Make the LED.

Snap the bottom of the LED to the curved part of the street light head.

Transfer the LED to the bottommost right of the head.

Utilize the rectangle pattern device to fill the entire head with LEDs.

Ensure all LEDs are reaching the head of the light.

7. With the move and rotate tool, transfer the head, so the flat part fits on top with the inside of the rounded pole.

8. Make the rectangle.

Extrude it by 0.2cm.

With the rectangle pattern tool, make the following pattern:

(Length Distance: 21.50cm Amount: 8; Width Distance: 18.5cm Amount: 13).

Make the frame.

9. Put the center of the solar panel from the rail through the solar cells fronting outer.

10. And you’re done!

CHAPTER 3

How Solar Street Light Works

Are you now thinking how solar LED street light works?

In case you didn’t know yet, solar powered street lights residential works on the principle of the solar cell or photovoltaic cell.

The solar cell transfigures solar energy to electrical energy that is stored in the battery.

Thus, solar powered street lamp draws the current from the battery, and it needs no wiring.

The Principle of Solar Street Lighting System

For example, a solar car parking lighting uses solar energy.

It is a form of renewable energy.

Nowadays, it’s typical to see the solar street lamps along the wings of roads.

These lights absorb solar energy during the daytime.

Photo Courtesy: Alibaba

To explain further:

The photovoltaic cells regenerate solar energy into electrical energy, as mentioned earlier.

During nighttime, the solar parking lights begin automatically, and it consumes the electricity stored already in the battery.

In the daytime, the battery gets recharged, and the system keeps on reiterating each day.

Solar LED street lights, on the other hand, are composed of the chemical compound which offers the light if the direct current from the battery passes through it.

You see:

Solar LEDs are accessible from many different solar street light manufacturer in different styles, shapes, and sizes.

The life of LED is typically high, which extends to approximately 50,000 hours.

Further, the LEDs need less current.

Thus, the solar panel street lights of small sizes are needed for the solar lights along with LED lamps.

CHAPTER 4

Solar Street Light Project in Different Places

According to Market Research, the worldwide solar street lighting market will notice stable growth with CAGR of approximately 21.02% throughout the forecast time of2018 to 2023.

The worldwide solar street lighting market is spread across:

• Latin America
• Asia-Pacific
• Europe
• North America
• Africa and the Middle East and the rest of the globe.

Geographically, the solar street lighting market around the globe can be attributed to the proliferating urbanization development.

An example of this is the solar street lighting system in India and solar street lights manufacturers in China.

This is owing to the massive gross domestic product of economies in the country, as well as the massive high-end technologies from developed countries, are also proving advantageous.

India also is progressively becoming a noticeable solar street lighting market player.

That’s because of the rise in the infrastructure of highways and roads, smart homes as well as smart cities.

Industry Top Key Players include:

• VerySol Inc.
• SOKOYO Solar Group
• Sunna Design
• Solar Streets Lights the USA
• Dragons Breath Solar
• Brdgelux Inc.
• Solektra International LLC

Searching for some of the best solar street light projects across the globe?

Below are some of the solar street lighting projects:

In Africa

Did you know that the solar street lights South Africa craze are catching steam in the country?

That’s good news considering the study performed by Philips founded that the region could save at least $10 billion every year when it adopted solar street lights for home.

Today, the country has a very small number of global solar LED market.

There appears to be a massive interest in solar street lights for sale, along with different nations having already set up solar LED street lights such as Morocco, Ghana, and Nigeria.

In Indonesia

The PILOT LED Projects in Indonesia demonstrated significant savings successfully and established new specifications for LED luminaries which concentrated on:

• vendor qualifications
• quality of delivered illumination
• luminaire performance

The new specifications were confined from global best practices and then utilized for the retrofit and procurement of 1,439 LEDs in 2 towns in Central Java and substation and power generating facilities in West Java.

In India

Photo Courtesy: Green Ubuntu

Last May 2018, 16 KW solar street lighting project was accomplished with a goal to demonstrate the use of new and renewable energy for people living in Meghalaya.

As the country seeks for renewable and green energy, including solar energy, various parts of the nation are taking advantages of going green.

The current example is this project at Garobadha, located in South West Garo Hills.

As part of the solar led street light India project, 7 street lights have been set up at the Garobadha market, that’s only 33 kilometers from Tura in the West Garo Hills.

In Malaysia

The Malaysian state of Melaka will also experience a greener and brighter environment.

Termed as the Melaka Road Lighting project, the Melaka Green Technology Corporation along with the Asian Development Bank will install more than 100,000 smart LED road lamps with a digital network lighting system.

The whole solar street light Malaysia project supports the drive of Malaysia to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020.

Photo Courtesy: Bing Solar

Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and China, on the other hand, are among the largest LED solar street light manufacturer in the world.

Manufacturer of solar street light in India and solar street lights manufacturers in China are mostly the current leaders, but other regions are showing interest too.

The governments in Asia as well as are playing a big part in building the future of solar street lighting system.

Good samples are the MANIREDA and UPNEDA projects in India.

In Japan, the local governments will continue to support their LED street lighting project as their 2020 Olympics approach.

Thus, solar power tends to take center stage in these projects.

CHAPTER 5

How Much Does Solar Street Light Cost

The solar street light prices are mainly composed of three parts which are:

• lamp post
• power supply
• lamp body

Photo Courtesy: Bing Solar

What is Involved in Solar Street Light Prices?

For a lamp post, it depends on thickness, material quality, height and more.

For the power supply, it attributes to brand and watt.

For lamp body, the cost depends on the brand, slight speed, product style and a lot more.

Costs of buried cage and packing and more are also a part of the solar street light prices.

Generally, the cost of LED street light based on the request and configuration, do not have standard pricing.

It might have a different solar street light price even if searching the same for two various styles of LED street lights.

How to Make Pricing for Solar Street Light Manufacturer?

Various request and configuration are relative along with various prices.

So, how do manufacturers make the pricing?

Frankly speaking, profit of solar street light manufacturer is 5% to 10% plus all expenses, then it’s price.

The price composition of the conventional LED street light is much easier than solar street light.

It’s simpler to calculate.

The gap of the cost is small basing on the similar configuration.

The Price Composition of LED Solar Street Light

Normally, the price component of the majority of products is:

• raw materials
• labor cost
• accessories cost
• packing and transportation cost
• enterprise rent
• profit
• tax
• depreciation cost of equipment

Here is the cost analysis of solar lights, which comprises of the cost of the light, maintenance, installation, as well as energy usage for more than ten years.

Solar Street Light Battery	Solar Panel	LED Street Light	Solar Street Light	Solar Street Light Controller
$450 to $800 depending on the prize	$11,380 to $14,990 The cost of every panel is available at a price of $187.50.	Each light costs $50 to $210 depending on the brand.	Each solar street light has a price of $300 to $560 per piece.	The prices vary from $180 to $680

CHAPTER 6

How to Choose the Best Solar Street Lights?

Now that you’re fully aware of the prices of solar street lights for sale, it’s time for you to know how to choose the one that fits you needs.

Photo Courtesy: Electronics B2B

Technology and Design

Did you know that solar street lights come in a wide array of technologies and designs?

You should pick one whose design will suit your needs.

A good design will provide the ideal results as you required.

Some of the concern which can identify the technology size and design which you must choose include:

• wind speed
• temperature ranges
• latitude
• weather condition
• dust level
• humidity

Type of Streetlight Poles

Apart from the technology and design, there are different features of solar streetlight pole, which you must take into consideration before you install for one.

Photo Courtesy: EENEWS Power Management

These factors are the following:

• the shape of the pole
• pole style and finishing
• pole material
• terrain
• wind speed
• type of luminaire chosen
• mounting height

You need to select the ideal pole which ensures to serve you very well.

Control Techniques

You need to consider the methods of controlling your solar street lights carefully.

Along with those intelligent street lighting features, you’ll control every solar street light from any remote location.

The system offers you the authority to turn on and off the solar street lights for home over a given period of time.

Further, you can control the dimming of the street lights.

You see:

The intelligent system also guides you to manage the energy consumption of your solar street lights.

With this, you can lessen the brightness or shut down the solar parking lot lights if they aren’t in use.

The Position of the Battery

In case you didn’t know yet, solar pole lights have various battery positions.

These include the following:

• on the top of the pole
• hanging on the pole
• on the roof of the pole
• on the ground
• underground

What’s more:

There are different factors which you might need to consider before you decide on the positioning of your battery.

It includes the terrain of the area, the material used, convenience, size of the battery, and security of the area.

CHAPTER 7

Solar Street Light Wattage

Photo Courtesy: Pacific Lamp Supply Company

Every fixture has an average LED wattage range.

So, depending on your application, several wattages can be utilized to offer the needed lighting for the application at hand.

Working along with a solar lighting expert can help identify the requirements necessary for light output.

Following is the wattages available for solar street light system:

20W, 30W, 40W, 50W, 60W, 70W, 80W, 90W, 100W, 110W, 120W, 130W, 140W, 150W, 160W, 170W, 180W, 200W, 220W

How Much Power Does a Solar Panel Street Lights Consume?

The majority are off grid and only use the battery generated power.

Typically, it can be between 1 watt to 100 watts.

The height of the pole must be according to the wattage rating of the streetlight:

• Above 20 feet – more than 50 watt
• 15 to 20 feet – 30 to 50 watt
• 12 to 15 feet – 15 to 30 watt
• Below 12 feet – below 15 watt

A high press sodium street light could draw up to 1000 watts.

On the other hand, an incandescent light utilized in the 1990s required 320 watts.

You will find some LED street lights which only require 73 watts that generate a great quality of light.

That data is according to the US Department energy.

For instance, small pedestrian pathways could utilize either overhead fixtures or bollard fixtures and are typically between 15 to 25 watts or 1400 to 2600 lumens and are set up low.

You see:

Higher lighting requirements for parking lots or highways begin at least 25 watts or 2600 lumens and rise up to 70 watts or 6500 lumens.

TAKE NOTE:

The lower your wattage, the less LED fixture you need to work to generate the light.

For example, lower wattages can often have equal higher lumen per watt output.

But wait! There’s more!

The solar powered street lights are a wonderful invention but need an excellent configuration.

Preferably, you create a light plan which is based on your project design.

That design shows the LUX value for every street light.

Supposedly, you require 10 LUX as a minimum requirement.

And you just installed a 25 watts lamp on a height of six meters along with 125 Lm/W.

The design below represents it can be enough (depending on the requirement of the customer.

Photo Courtesy: Quora

CHAPTER 8

Solar Street Light Types

What are the different types of solar street lights?

Read further to know!

Solar Street Lights for Highway Express

Photo Courtesy: Design Boom

This kind of solar street light is very easy to install.

By the help of this kind of solar street light, the risk of incidents is lessened.

That’s because there are no external wires required for electric connections.

The LED street light offers clear visibility for the drivers and pedestrian.

Top quality illumination LED light system beautifies urban area at night without polluting the environment.

Solar Street Light for City Roads

Photo Courtesy: Green Prophet

A lot of city roads are equipped with this kind of street light.

That’s because they are very simple to install without conventional electricity expense.

Such solar powered street lamps are installed at the side of the road.

On the contrary, the maintenance is required only once every seven years.

The lights are used for safe driving operations at night time.

Solar Street Light for Homes

Photo Courtesy: Agilet 

Solar street lights for the home are lighted by solar energy that is transfigured into electric energy.

Consequently, they are a perfect option for security purposes.

That’s because they can operate without electricity at night.

The sun offers the required energy during the daytime.

Such lights turn on automatically when it senses motion.

Solar Street Light for Parks

Photo Courtesy: LEDs Magazine

Solar street lights for parks are advantageous as it helps to light pavilions, trails, and signs.

They’re independent of the grid. Thus it can be set up anywhere in the park where there’s a need for right lighting.

Such lights offer safety for kids who play after dark and for officials to protect the area for different reasons.

Nowadays, LD lights are installed in the playgrounds or stadium.

Thus, the solar street lighting system is installed in the playgrounds of stadiums which can offer great power lighting in the field.

Solar Street Light for Car Parking Lot

Photo Courtesy: KTS Group

The Solar Street Light for Car Parking Lot has superb storage system which enables three days consecutive illumination without any recharge.

Car parking lot is larger in size; thus, they take a huge amount of electricity for outdoor lighting.

While installing these lights, the price for electric wires will lessen, and maintenance cost will reduce.

Other Types of Solar Street Light

Following are more types of solar street light systems you need to know:

• All-in-One Solar Street Light

This kind of solar street light system features an automatic motion sensor along with settings of dimmer.

It also has a motion sensor that aids to save energy.

This system is composed of:

• Lithium battery
• Light controller with built-in motion sensors
• LED light
• Solar panel

• Solar and wind Hybrid Solar Street Light

These solar pole lights are a combination of wind and solar energy.

Photo Courtesy: Energy Infra Post

If you combine both, you can expect more production of energy.

The sunlight and wind both generate the energy at a different time.

Here, the wind is dominating in winter while the sunlight is more in the summer season

Thus, the solar street light is very successful in extreme climatic conditions.

• Grid-Tie Solar Street Light System

There are two types of a grid-tie solar street lighting system.

Photo Courtesy: Pecan Lighting

The Grid-Tied or also known as the Single Inverter solar parking lot lights is the one wherein sun-oriented prearrangement is set up in a focal area.

That offers you the energy to an organization of LED road lights.

Further, the transmission lines offer fuel to such lights.

On the other hand, there’s Grid-Tie, or Micro Inverter have separate inverters on every pole for LED solar street light.

With this, there’s no necessity for a huge solar arrangement.

• Off-Grid Split Type Solar Panel Street Lights

Photo Courtesy: SinolTech

The installation in this solar street light is complicated and needs a lot of money and manpower.

Solar light is a good option.

In off-grid split type, every pole has an independent unit.

It is composed of the power source, LED light, light controller, and battery.

CHAPTER 9

Solar Street Light Parts Added Features

Did you know that there are other features of using a solar street lighting system?

That’s mainly because it can be incorporated with different tools.

Some of these are CCTV, camera, sensors, and inbuilt battery.

In this chapter, we’ll educate you about the benefits of integrating some of this tool on your solar powered street lamp.

Solar Street Light with CCTV

Everyone wishes to feel safe while they are walking on the streets.

In many isolated places, the lack of lighting in the streets raises the crimes rate that terrified a lot of people.

Luckily, with the solar street light with CCTV, this problem can be solved easily.

Photo Courtesy: GES Group Solar

But how does it work?

It’s very easy.

The solar panel converts the accident energy from the sun throughout the day into electricity.

Now, the electricity will be stored in the battery system to offer illumination at night and power to the CCTV camera throughout the entire day.

The data will be transported via an internet connection.

So, no matter where you are, you can check your area thru a live stream on your laptop or mobile phone.

What’s more:

The data can be stored in the cloud or SD card.

Solar Street Light with Camera

A camera in a solar street lighting system can send a notification when it detects motion things.

If you install it on your street light, it will be very helpful for looking into crimes like theft.

Solar Street Light with Inbuilt Battery

A modern solar panel street lights are powered by inbuilt batteries.

That means that are environment-friendly and cost-efficient to light up public spaces and roads.

Such features make LED solar street lamps well-fitted for domestic and commercial lighting applications.

Solar Street Light with Sensor

These devices are facilitated by the existence of night and motion sensors.

You see:

The intensity of the light lessens until dawn until motion is sensed within a particular radius beneath the light when it turns to full brightness automatically.

That smart feature is now integrated into modern solar powered street lights residential which combine aspects of renewable energy along with energy efficiency.

CHAPTER 10

Solar Street Light Specification

The solar street light scope supply must consist of the:

• design
• production of materials
• manufacturing
• data and drawings
• assembly
• testing
• painting
• inspection

all by applicable standards and codes.

The solar street lighting system must be equipped with the following:

• automatic on/off operation
• pole with mounting/pedestal accessories
• 1 or 2nos. of negligible/low maintenance batteries
• Any other accessories not mentioned but needed for completion of the work and appropriate function of the system

Battery

1 or 2 battery, 24V or 12V maintenance free, spill proof batteries

Solar Street Light Characteristic

Solar street lamp design must be lighting area enclosed with the road is more equated across the road.

For example, 25 LUX/m at a particular height of the pole.

Input Operating Voltage

12 or 24 VDC Nominal system voltages

Light Output of the Solar Power Lighting System

Minimum of 25 LUX at the particularly needed height of pole choice.

Luminaire

LED street light with transparent acrylic cover.

The housing should be a high efficiency LED street lamp fixed with accessories and gasket for inspecting and weatherproof operation.

Input Power Consumption

The solar street light power obtains preferred lux level.

Solar Module of the Lighting System

High-efficiency, multi/monocrystalline silicone.

A solar module made to endure harsh environmental conditions along with test certificate.

CHAPTER 11

Know-How On Solar Street Light

Every solar street lighting system you choose to execute should undergo through the analytic approach in identifying the most possible:

• solar system components
• solar controller
• system design
• communication network
• technical product specification as well as;
• overall outputs

for your favored type of solar energy lighting.

Following are some important tips you need to consider:

1. What is the application of your solar powered street lamp?

Is it going to be installed on an airport, sidewalk, park, in residence, on a roadway, or University campus?

All such locations need distinctive considerations.

2. Talk about your needs to your solar street light manufacturer in regards to:
   • anticipated hours of light every day,
   • frequency and movement in the desired location, and;
   • conservation objectives each year

3. Request for calculations on insolation and solar irradiance for your exact location based on the chosen solar system configurations and specifications.

4. Request for training software usage in case your system has a monitoring system or remote management control.

5. Don’t forget to consider the costs of servicing and maintenance, and inquire for long-term solutions about essential concerns with exact cost estimates.

CHAPTER 12

FAQs

• What’s the normal maintenance schedule for a solar street lighting system?

There’s no standard maintenance needed, but it’s useful to keep the solar panels clean.

• What’s a sun hour?

Sun hour is the unit of measurement of the intensity of the sunlight at a certain time, which can be utilized for production of solar power.

• What will happen if there are cloudy days?

Electrical energy is kept in the battery every day, and some of that is utilized to operate the light during nighttime.

• Do I need to charge the batteries?

Batteries are delivered 85% charged. It will be fully charged within 2 weeks of operation.

CONCLUSION

There you have it!

We hope we’ve guided you learn more about solar street light and what other information you need to ask from the solar street light manufacturer when considering buying this product.

Overall, solar street light is surely a huge help if you are seeking for lighting solutions which are energy efficient, have less overall costs, last a long time and environmentally sustainable if supported by smart technology.

We wish you good luck on your journey to find the best solar panel street lights for your needs!

More References to Read:

Five Reasons Why Solar Street Lighting is a Smart Decision for Cities

How to install Solar LED Street Lights

Comparing Traditional Street Lights vs. Solar Poles

Things to Consider Before Installing Solid Street Lights

LED Cost of Street Lights

How to Design and Calculate Solar Street Light System