How to Improve the Brightness of Solar Street Lights?

In the construction of modern cities and villages, lighting equipment is an important infrastructure, the transformation from traditional electric street lights to solar street lights also demonstrates the development and utilization of new energy sources in the field of lighting has made significant progress, and solar street lights have been widely used because of their environmental protection, energy saving and other advantages. However, how to ensure that the solar street light always maintains sufficient brightness to provide good lighting for nighttime travel has become the focus of attention. Next, we will delve into various aspects related to the brightness of solar street lights.
 

Understanding LED Solar Street Lighting Brightness

The Impact of Lumens on Brightness

Lumens, as a unit of measurement of luminous flux, play a key role in determining the brightness of LED solar street lights. Simply put, luminous flux refers to the amount of energy radiated by a light source into the surrounding space per unit of time to produce the sensation of light to the human eye. For solar street lights, the higher the lumen value means that the more visible light emitted per unit of time, the brighter the street light.
 

From the basic principle, the calculation of lumens integrates the intensity of light emitted by the light source and the sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths of light. In practice, for example, a road that needs good lighting, according to the road width, length and the surrounding environment and other factors, we can rely on the lumen value to accurately select the appropriate brightness of the solar street light, so as to ensure that the road is evenly and effectively illuminated.

The relationship between brightness and wattage

Traditionally, people tend to think that the higher the wattage, the better the lighting effect. But in the field of solar LED street lights, this view is not entirely correct. LED technology, with its efficient conversion of electrical energy into light energy, breaks the traditional perception.
 

Taking the same brightness demand as an example, traditional lamps may need higher wattage to achieve, while LED solar street lamps through the optimization of the chip and circuit design, can reach or even exceed the brightness of traditional lamps at a lower wattage. This not only reduces energy consumption, but also reduces electricity bills, realizing the perfect combination of energy saving and high brightness lighting.

Adaptive Brightness

With the development of science and technology, adaptive brightness function is widely used in solar LED street lights. The so-called adaptive brightness is that the street light can automatically adjust its own brightness according to changes in the surrounding environment.
 

This function mainly relies on intelligent technology and various types of sensors to realize. When the ambient light is dark, the sensor will detect this change and pass the signal to the street lamp control system, the system then automatically adjusts the brightness of the street lamp; and late at night when the vehicles and pedestrians are scarce, in order to save energy, the street lamp brightness will be appropriately reduced. Through this dynamic lighting method, not only to meet the lighting needs of different times, but also maximize the optimization of energy efficiency.
 

What Determines the Brightness of Solar System Street Light?

The Influence of LED Chips on Light Brightness

Many people mistakenly think that the more LED beads, the brighter the street light will be, which is not the case. The core of the LED beads is the LED chip, and the brightness of the chip is the key factor reflecting the light efficiency (i.e. brightness). Selecting high-performance LED chips of big brands has a significant effect on improving the brightness of solar street lights. Under the same configuration, the brightness of the solar street light with big brand chips can be increased by one fifth compared with the street light with common chips. Therefore, when choosing a solar street light, it is crucial to pay attention to the quality of the LED chip.

The Impact of Solar Panel on Solar Conversion Efficiency

The energy supply of solar street lights depends entirely on direct sunlight. Once the solar panel is blocked by green plants and other objects, the sunlight can not be fully irradiated, the efficiency of its conversion of solar energy into electricity will be greatly reduced, which directly leads to the street light brightness can not meet the expected requirements.
 

Only when the photovoltaic panel can convert sufficient solar energy into electricity and input it into the battery, the battery can have enough power to supply power to the light source, so that the street light reaches the set brightness. On the contrary, if the power input from the PV panel to the battery is insufficient, the brightness of the street light will be significantly weaker.
 

To solve this problem, we need to flexibly adjust the height of the solar street light pole or the position of the solar panel according to the actual situation to ensure that the panel is not blocked and can fully absorb sunlight. In addition, the material of the solar panel is also extremely important. Monocrystalline silicon solar panels have extremely high power conversion efficiency, which can more effectively convert solar energy into electricity and provide stable power support for the street light.

Solar Street Light Pole Height

The height of the street light pole is not determined arbitrarily, but is closely related to the width of the road. Generally speaking, the height of the street light installed on one side should be greater than or equal to the width of the road; the height of the street light installed bilaterally and symmetrically should be about half of the width of the road; the height of the street light installed bilaterally and staggered should be at least 70% of the width of the road. Only by following this standard setting height of street light poles can the best lighting effect be realized.
 

If the height of the street light pole is too low, the light will be too concentrated in the local area, resulting in a waste of light, and can not evenly illuminate the entire road; while the height of the street light pole is too high, the light will be too dispersed, resulting in the brightness of the street light is not enough to meet the needs of road lighting. Therefore, the reasonable determination of street light pole height is crucial to guarantee the lighting effect and brightness of solar street light.

The Influence of Controller on the Brightness of Solar Street Light

Controller plays a crucial role in solar street light system, which not only concerns the service life of battery, but also directly controls the brightness of street light. Due to the limited capacity of the battery, solar street light can't always continue to illuminate with 100% power like traditional street light.
 

In continuous rainy weather, the battery power gradually decreases, and can not be as stable as when fully charged. At this time, the intelligent control system will play a role, it can be based on the real-time battery power, dynamic adjustment of the power output of the street lamp, to ensure that the street lamp in a variety of working conditions can work normally, while extending the service life of the battery.
 

The controller also has the function of accurately controlling the input and output power of the battery to avoid overcharging or over-discharging of the battery. In this way, the battery is effectively protected so that it can provide power for the street light stably for a long time, thus guaranteeing the brightness and normal operation of the street light.
 

Reasons Why Solar Street Lamps Are Not Bright Enough

Battery Aging

During the operation of the whole solar street light system, the service life of the battery is a problem that should not be ignored. As the energy storage core of solar street light, once the battery is aging or damaged, its ability to store electricity will be greatly reduced or even lost. This makes the street light unable to get enough power support when working at night, and can only emit weak light, resulting in a serious lack of brightness. In continuous rainy weather, this situation will be more obvious, and may even affect the normal night lighting of street lights. Therefore, choosing high-quality batteries is crucial to guarantee the brightness and stable operation of solar street lights.

LED Beads Decay Too Fast

Some street light manufacturers often choose LED lights when selecting lighting sources for solar street lights. However, the quality of LED lamps on the market varies, and some poor quality LED lamps have extremely serious light degradation phenomenon in the process of using.
 

If the LED light source with too fast light decay is selected, the brightness of the street light will drop significantly after a period of time, which cannot meet the lighting requirements. Therefore, when purchasing solar street lights, be sure to choose LED light source with slow light decay.

Low Battery Power or Improper Controller Settings

When designing and configuring solar streetlights, if the power of the solar panel is too small, it cannot provide enough charging power for the battery, resulting in insufficient battery energy storage. When the street light is used at night, due to the high power consumption, and the battery can not replenish the power in time, there will be a lack of power supply, which will result in insufficient brightness of the street light.
 

The main role of the solar controller is to control the lighting time and brightness of the street light. If the settings of the controller do not match the actual local environmental conditions, especially when the number of local cloudy and rainy days often exceeds the preset duration of the controller, the battery needs to continuously supply power to the street light, which will greatly increase the burden on the battery, accelerate the aging of the battery, leading to shorten the service life of the battery, and at the same time reduce the brightness of the street light. Especially for street lights with motion sensors, improper controller settings will have a more significant impact on their brightness.

Weather Impact

Weather conditions have a significant impact on solar street lights. The working principle of solar street light is to absorb sunlight during the day, convert solar energy into electricity and store it, and then use the stored electricity for lighting at night, and so on.
 

However, once encountered for many consecutive days without sunshine, cloudy, rainy or snowy days, solar street lamps will lose the main source of electricity. In this case, the streetlight can only continue to consume the previously stored power. With the gradual decrease or even depletion of the stored power, the brightness of the light emitted by the street light will be lower and lower, which seriously affects the lighting effect.

Influence of External Factors

If there are tall trees or buildings around the solar street light, these objects may block the sunlight, so that the solar street light can not fully absorb the sunlight, which leads to its inability to produce enough electricity. In addition, if there is a problem with the orientation of the solar street light battery panel, which is not accurately facing the direction of sunlight, it will also affect its absorption efficiency of sunlight, which will result in insufficient power and reduced brightness of the street light.
 

How To Improve The Brightness Of Solar Street Lamp

Determining the Brightness of Street Lights Before Purchase

When making a large-scale solar street light purchase, choosing a quality manufacturer is a critical first step. It is recommended to personally visit the manufacturer's factory for an on-site inspection, so that you can intuitively understand its production process, product quality and corporate strength.
 

After determining the purchase intention, make sure to clarify the brightness requirements of the street light with the manufacturer. If you don't have a clear idea of the brightness standard, you can ask the manufacturer to make samples for viewing. At the same time, through repeated Dialux simulations, you can more accurately predict the lighting effect of the street light in the actual installation scenarios, and make sure that the brightness of the street light you ultimately choose meets the actual demand.
 

If there is a high demand for street light brightness, it is necessary to choose a luminaire with a higher LED lumen value when selecting a product. At the same time, in order to ensure that the street light can obtain sufficient power support, it is also necessary to correspondingly increase the size of the solar panel and improve the capacity of the battery.

Installation Without Obstruction

When installing solar street lights on both sides of the road, it is necessary to carefully observe the environmental conditions on both sides of the road in advance, and pay special attention to the presence of green plants that may block the sunlight. Because the solar street light relies on absorbing solar energy to be converted into electricity, if it is blocked after installation, its charging effect will be greatly reduced, seriously affecting the normal use of the street light.
 

Once the risk of shading is found, the installation position of the street light pole should be adjusted in time to ensure that the solar panels can be fully exposed to the sunlight during the day without being blocked by any objects, so that the solar energy can be smoothly converted into electricity to provide sufficient power for the street light to be illuminated at night.

Regular Inspection

After the solar street light installation is completed and put into use, regular inspection is very necessary. Regular inspection can timely find the street light system in a variety of problems, and take appropriate measures to repair, to ensure that the street light is always in a good state of operation.
 

In the inspection process, if any parts are found to be damaged, they should be replaced or repaired immediately to avoid further deterioration of the problem affecting the normal use of the street light. At the same time, the surface of solar panels that have not been cleaned for a long time may accumulate a lot of dust and dirt, which will reduce the efficiency of the panels in absorbing sunlight, thus affecting the brightness of the street light. Therefore, the solar panel should be wiped and cleaned regularly to keep its surface clean and tidy, in order to improve the conversion efficiency of solar energy.
 

How To Maintain the Brightness and Functionality of Solar Street Lights

Checking the Surface of Street Lights

When street lights are exposed to the outdoor environment for a long period of time, their surfaces are prone to the accumulation of dust, dirt, and other debris. These substances will block the light emitted from the streetlight to a certain extent, reducing the actual brightness of the streetlight.
 

In order to ensure that the street light always maintains a good lighting effect, you need to check the cleanliness of the surface of the street light on a regular basis. Once the surface of the streetlight is found to be dirty, it should be gently wiped with a clean, soft cloth to remove the dust and dirt from the surface and restore the light output of the streetlight so that it can illuminate its surroundings properly.

Check the Solar Panels

In routine maintenance, carefully check the solar panels for leaves, bird droppings, debris and other obscuring objects. These obstructions will prevent sunlight from reaching the panels and reduce the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the panels, which in turn affects the charging effect and brightness of the street lights.
 

When the battery board is found to have obstructions, it should be cleaned in time to ensure that the surface of the battery board is clean and free of obstructions. After the cleaning is completed, also check whether the orientation of the battery panel is correct, to ensure that it is always facing the direction of full sunlight, in order to maximize the absorption and conversion efficiency of solar energy.

Checking the Battery Status

The brightness of the street light depends largely on the battery's power reserve. Therefore, regular checking of the battery status is one of the important aspects of maintaining solar streetlights. During the checking process, it is necessary to carefully observe whether the battery shows signs of aging, such as whether the shell is deformed and whether there is liquid leakage.
 

At the same time, you can use a multimeter to detect the voltage of the battery. If the detected voltage is lower than the standard value, it means that the battery may have developed problems and cannot store and provide enough power normally, at this time, it may be necessary to consider replacing the battery to ensure that the street light can obtain a stable power supply and maintain normal brightness.

Checking Circuit Connections

The stability of circuit connections is directly related to the normal operation and brightness performance of the streetlight system. During maintenance, carefully check whether the wire connection parts are firm and whether there is corrosion or breakage.
 

If the wire connection is found to be loose, it should be tightened in time to ensure that the current can pass through smoothly; for corroded or broken wires, they should be replaced in time to avoid the current being blocked due to the circuit connection problem, which affects the performance and brightness of the street light.

Evaluate the Condition of the Bulb

If the streetlight continues to appear dim, the bulb needs to be scrutinized. For traditional bulbs, look for burnout or aging; for LED lights, since they are made up of multiple LED modules, failure of a single LED may affect the luminous effect of the entire luminaire. If it is determined that there is a problem with the bulb or LED module, it should be replaced in time to restore the normal brightness of the streetlight.

Adjusting the Lighting Angle

Whether the lighting angle of the street light is appropriate or not directly affects its lighting effect on the surrounding environment. In the process of installation and maintenance, make sure that the angle of the street light can be adapted to the surrounding environment to avoid the situation that the lighting is blocked or the lighting range is unreasonable.

Check Software and Configuration

For solar streetlights equipped with intelligent control systems, regular checking of software settings and configuration is an important measure to ensure their normal operation and stable brightness. It is important to verify that the brightness settings, working time settings and other relevant parameters of the street light are correct and match the actual local usage requirements.
 

If the settings are found to be misused or set unreasonably, timely adjustments should be made to ensure that the intelligent control system can accurately control the brightness and working status of the streetlights according to the environmental changes and the actual demand, and realize the lighting effect of high efficiency and energy saving.

Considering Continuous Rainy Weather

In areas with more continuous rainy weather, as the solar street light cannot fully absorb sunlight for charging for a long period of time, the battery power may continue to drop, affecting the normal use of the street light. To address this situation, leave enough charging time for the batteries on sunny days, so that the batteries can be fully charged as much as possible to cope with the subsequent cloudy and rainy weather that may occur.

Regular Maintenance

Through regular maintenance, potential problems can be found and solved in time, preventing sudden energy failures, prolonging the service life of the streetlight, and ensuring that the streetlight is always able to provide people with bright and reliable nighttime lighting services. Maintenance work should include cleaning solar panels, checking circuit connections, testing battery capacity, checking the surface of the street light and the lighting angle, and many other aspects.

Professional Maintenance Service

If the streetlight still has insufficient brightness or other problems after performing the above series of inspection and maintenance measures, it is recommended to contact a professional solar street light maintenance service team in time. Professionals with rich experience and expertise can use professional tools and techniques to carry out more in-depth diagnosis and repair of the streetlight system, quickly and accurately identify the root cause of the problem, and take effective solutions to ensure that the solar street light returns to its normal working condition and brightness level.
 

In conclusion, to enhance and maintain the brightness of solar street lights, we need to start from many aspects, including the correct selection and installation of street lights, regular inspection and maintenance, as well as a reasonable response to a variety of influencing factors. Only in this way can we give full play to the advantages of solar street lights and create a safe and bright environment for people to travel at night. We are a solar street light manufacturer from China, if you are interested in opening your solar lighting road, please contact NOKIN, we have a professional team and rich experience, will be customized for your exclusive lighting solutions!