Frequently Asked Questions About Solar Street Lights

Are solar street lights really good?

Energy efficient

 

Solar street lights operate with the help of the sun, a renewable energy source. During the day, the solar panel absorbs sunlight and converts it into electricity to be stored in the battery for lighting at night. Compared with traditional street lights that rely on the power grid, led solar street lights greatly reduce energy consumption, significantly reduce the negative impact on the environment, and also help users save a lot of electricity bills.

 

lower cost

 

Although solar street lights are expensive to purchase and install in the early stage, the advantages are obvious in the long run. It does not require electricity expenditure, and simple structural design, durable parts, routine maintenance needs less, low repair costs, long-term use of costs significantly reduced. On the contrary, traditional street lights, electricity costs continue to generate, but also have to regularly replace bulbs, overhaul lines, the cost accumulated year by year.

 

Independent operation

 

Solar led street lights are independent of the power grid and are not disturbed by power outages. In remote areas or natural disasters resulting in power grid failure, it can still be normal lighting, providing security for residents and pedestrians traveling at night. It is especially suitable for remote villages and mountainous areas with insufficient grid coverage.

 

Easy installation

 

Solar street light is easy to install, no need for complex wiring, install the street light in the right location and debug it. This makes the installation position flexible according to the actual demand, whether it is a park trail, parking lot, or rural roads can be easily adapted. Whether it is a new area layout lighting, or existing area lighting system expansion and adjustment, solar street lights can cope freely.

 

Intelligent control

 

Today's solar street lights are often equipped with intelligent control systems, such as the human body sensing device, detecting someone or a car passes by to automatically increase the brightness, no one to reduce the brightness of energy saving. It can also be unified management through remote control, adjust the street light switching time, brightness and other parameters at any time, to achieve intelligent, refined lighting management, and further enhance the efficiency of energy use.

 

How Long Does a Solar Street Light Work?

 

Average service life

 

Under normal use and maintenance, the overall service life of solar street light is generally 10 to 20 years. However, it is affected by various factors such as product quality, usage environment and routine maintenance.

 

Length of use of each component

 

Solar street lights are mainly composed of solar panels, batteries, LED lights and controllers.

 

Solar panels have a long service life of 25 to 30 years, but the power generation efficiency will gradually decrease with the increase of use time.

 

As a key component of energy storage, the battery's service life varies depending on its quality and frequency of use, and generally needs to be replaced after a few years, while the LED lamp's service life usually ranges from 50,000 to 100,000 hours, which is characterized by a long service life and high luminance.

 

The controller manages and regulates the operation of the entire system, and its lifespan depends on the quality of the product and the environment in which it is used.

 

Maintenance is critical

 

Regular maintenance is essential to ensure the long-term stable operation of solar street lights. Daily maintenance includes cleaning the dust and debris on the surface of the solar panel to ensure full absorption of solar energy; checking whether the parts are firmly connected and replacing the faulty parts in a timely manner; and regularly testing the battery charging and discharging performance to ensure the normal operation of the battery. Through scientific and reasonable maintenance, it can effectively extend the service life of solar street light and improve the lighting effect.

 

How to choose a good solar street light?

 

How to determine thesolar street lighting needs?

 

When choosing solar street lights, you have to first define the actual lighting needs. For example, for pedestrian walkways, low-power, narrow-beam street lamps can meet; large parking lots or busy traffic intersections require high-power, wide-beam street lamps to provide adequate lighting.

 

Based on the area of the lighting area and the use of the scene, a reasonable calculation of the number of lumens required, outdoor lighting generally need 10 to 20 lumens per square foot, but the specific value should be adjusted according to the actual situation.

 

How to choose the battery capacity?

 

Battery capacity should be selected with due consideration to the local climate. In cloudy areas, large-capacity batteries should be selected to ensure that the led street light can still work properly when the light is insufficient for many consecutive days. In general, for common usage scenarios and areas with certain cloud cover, a battery capacity of 100 to 150Ah is more suitable. At the same time, according to the power of the outdoor street light and the length of lighting at night, we should accurately calculate the required battery capacity to ensure stable operation of the system.

 

What is the efficiency of solar panel?

 

The conversion efficiency of solar panels directly affects the power generation capacity of street lights. Monocrystalline silicon and polycrystalline silicon solar panels are common in the market. Monocrystalline silicon solar panels have a higher conversion efficiency, usually between 15% and 22%; polycrystalline silicon solar panels have a slightly lower conversion efficiency, between 13% and 18%, but at a more affordable price.

 

When choosing, it is necessary to combine the local light resources, choose the panel that can efficiently utilize solar energy, to ensure that the street lamps can obtain sufficient electricity under different light conditions.

 

How to ensure that the led solar street lightare durable and well protected?

 

Solar street lights are exposed to the outdoors for a long time and must have good durability and protection. The material of the lamp body should be chosen to be high-strength and corrosion-resistant, like aluminum alloy, which ensures durability and reduces weight.

 

The surface of the solar panel should be made of high-strength, abrasion-resistant protective glass to ensure normal operation in bad weather. The protection level of the street light should be IP65 or higher, effective dustproof and waterproof, to ensure the safe and stable operation of the lamps and lanterns.

 

Is it necessary to consider the intelligent function?

 

Solar street light with intelligent function can greatly improve the using experience and energy-saving effect. For example, the street light with sensor function can automatically adjust the brightness according to the surrounding movement, reduce the brightness and save energy when no one is around, and automatically increase the brightness when someone is near, which is convenient and energy-saving.

 

The street light with remote control function can be operated remotely via mobile APP or computer, which is convenient for managers to manage and maintain in a unified way and find out the problems in time.

 

Is it important to refer to product reviews and suggestions?

 

Before buying outdoor solar street lights, it is recommended to refer to other users' evaluation and professionals' recommendation. Through Internet platforms, product review websites and other channels, you can learn about the actual use effect, quality stability and after-sales service of different brands and models of street lights. You can also consult professional lighting designers or people with installation experience to get suggestions so as to choose cost-effective and reliable solar street lights.

 

What kind of maintenance should be done on solar street lights?

 

Is the daily maintenance simple?

 

Solar street lights require less routine maintenance. In most cases, rainwater can wash away the dust and debris on the surface of the solar panel and keep it clean. So in areas with sufficient rainfall, there is no need to clean the solar panels frequently.

 

How to maintain solar street lights in special conditions?

 

In areas with heavy snowfall, the surface of the solar panel should be cleaned in time after snowfall to ensure that it absorbs solar energy normally. However, solar panels usually have a certain tilt angle, and the snow will usually slide off naturally after sunlight and temperature rise. In addition, it is necessary to regularly check the components of the street light to ensure that the connection is firm, and any components damaged or malfunctioning should be replaced and repaired in a timely manner.

 

How to determine the size of solar street light?

How to perform load estimation?

 

Load estimation aims to determine the total energy consumption of a solar street light system. When designing, the professional will calculate the total energy required by the system in watt-hour (Wh) per day based on the power of the street light and the number of hours of illumination per day. Considering the energy conversion loss of the system, the calculation result is usually multiplied by a 1.3 factor to ensure stable operation of the system.

 

How to calculate solar panel current?

 

Calculating solar panel output current is an important part of designing a solar street light system. First of all, we should determine the total current required by the street light system, and then calculate the output current of each solar panel according to the local sunshine time. In order to cope with insufficient sunshine, a 20% margin is usually added on the basis of the calculation results to ensure that the system works properly in all kinds of weather.

 

Amps Per Panel = (Total Amps/ Sunlight Per Day) X 1.2

 

How to determine the backup battery capacity?

 

Due to the weather, solar street lights are not fully charged every day, so the backup battery capacity is very critical. Generally speaking, the backup battery should have the capacity to meet the lighting demand for at least five nights. In the cold northern regions, the winter sunshine time is short, need to appropriately increase the backup battery capacity, to ensure that the street light in bad weather normal work. To calculate the backup battery capacity, simply multiply the total system current by the number of backup days required.
 

 

How high should the solar street light be installed?

 

How to set the installation height of wide beam street light?

 

For wide beam solar street lights, a higher installation height of 10 to 12 meters is usually recommended for wider lighting coverage. This allows the light to spread evenly over a larger area, and is suitable for large parking lots, plazas and other open space lighting needs.

 

What is the installation height of narrow beam street light?

 

Narrow-beam solar street lights concentrate light and are suitable for use in areas that require precise lighting, such as sidewalks and small intersections. These street lightsare usually installed at a lower position of 6 to 8 meters to project light to the exact area that needs to be illuminated, improving lighting efficiency and avoiding energy waste.

 

Which Is Better – Conventional or Solar Street Light?

 

How does the street light cost compare?

 

The initial purchase and installation cost of traditional street light is relatively low, but the long-term use of high electricity costs, and complex structure, high maintenance costs. While the solar street light, although the initial investment is large, but no electricity costs, low maintenance costs, the total cost in the long run is lower.

 

For example, a traditional street light installation cost of about 1200 U.S. dollars, 10 years of use, plus electricity and maintenance costs, the total cost may be more than 4,000 U.S. dollars; a solar street light installation cost of about 1,500 U.S. dollars in the early stage, the subsequent use of low-cost, the total cost of about 2,000 U.S. dollars in 10 years.

 

What is the difference between street light installation and maintenance?

 

Traditional street light installation requires a lot of underground wiring, complicated construction, high cost, and damage to the road and the surrounding environment. Maintenance requires regular checking of wiring and replacement of light bulbs, which makes troubleshooting and repair difficult.

 

Solar street light is easy to install, only need to install in the right location, no wiring, reduce installation costs and construction difficulties. Maintenance mainly involves regular cleaning of solar panels and checking of batteries, which is relatively simple.

 

What is the performance of environmental protection and sustainability?

 

Traditional street lightsrely on utility power, and the power generation process is often accompanied by the burning of fossil fuels, which produces a large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, polluting the environment.

 

Solar street lights utilize solar energy, a clean energy source that produces no pollutants, helping to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment. Moreover, most of the components of solar street lights, such as batteries and LED lights, can be recycled and utilized, which is in line with the concept of sustainable development.

 

With many advantages such as energy saving, environmental protection, low cost, easy installation and maintenance, solar street lights have become the ideal choice for modern outdoor lighting. When choosing and using solar street lights, as long as you fully consider the above common problems, you can ensure the stable operation of the street light system and provide people with efficient and reliable lighting services.