Solar street lights are an efficient lighting system powered by solar energy. They capture sunlight through solar panels, convert it into electricity and store it in batteries to power LED lights at night.
This solar light is designed for outdoor lighting scenarios and is widely used in streets, parking lots, trails, parks and other public areas. Especially in places where traditional power grids cannot be covered or installation costs are high, solar street lights have become an environmentally friendly, energy-saving and cost-effective lighting solution.
How Do Solar Street Lights Work?
Like any solar light, solar street lights also work on the principle of the photovoltaic effect. When placed in direct sunlight, the solar cells on the solar panel absorb the sunlight and convert the solar energy into a usable electric current.
This direct current is stored in the solar cells via a charge controller. This energy is used to illuminate the solar street light from dusk to dawn. The current produced by the solar panel depends on the size of the solar cell and the amount of sunlight absorbed by the solar panel.
During the day, under the control of the intelligent controller, the solar panel is exposed to sunlight, absorbs solar energy and converts it into electrical energy.
During the day, the solar panel charges the battery pack, and at night, the battery pack powers the LED, the light source is lit, and the lighting function is realized. The DC controller ensures that the battery pack will not be damaged due to overcharging or over-discharging, and has functions such as light control, time control, temperature compensation, lightning protection, and reverse polarity protection.
Different Types of Solar Street Light
According to the physical structure of the entire solar street light, the solar street lights on the market can be divided into integrated solar street lights, All in two solar street lights and split solar street lights. Let's take a look at their differences.
When introducing these three types of street lights, I deliberately put the split solar street lights first. Why? Because the split solar street light is the earliest product. The subsequent All in two solar street lights and integrated solar street lights are optimized and improved on the basis of the split street light.
Advantage: Large system
The biggest feature of split solar street lights is that the main components can be flexibly paired and combined into any system. The expandability of each component is also very strong. Therefore, the split system can be large or small, and it can be infinitely changed according to the needs of users.
Therefore, flexibility is its main advantage of split solar street lights.
However, such a pairing combination is not so user-friendly. Since the components sent by the manufacturer are all independent parts, the workload of assembly and wiring becomes larger. Especially when many installers are not professional, the probability of error is greatly increased.
However, the dominant position of split solar street lights in larger systems cannot be shaken by two-in-one street lights and integrated solar street lights.
Larger power or working time means large power consumption, which requires large-capacity batteries and high-power solar panels to support. The battery capacity of two-in-one street lights is limited due to the limitations of the battery compartment of the lamp; integrated street lights are greatly limited in the power of solar panels.
Therefore, split solar street lights are suitable for systems with high power or long working time.
All-in-Two Solar Street Lights
In order to solve the problem of high cost and difficult installation of split solar street lights, the merchants have optimized and proposed a all-in-two street light solution. The so-called all-in-two street light is to integrate the battery, controller and light source into the lamp. These four form one body, and with the separate solar panel, they form two bodies.
Of course, the two-in-one solar street light solution is formulated around lithium batteries, relying on the advantages of lithium batteries' small size and light weight.
Advantages of all-in-two solar street light:
1) Easy installation: Since the light source and battery are pre-connected to the controller before leaving the factory, the LED light only has one wire, which is connected to the solar panel. This wire needs to be connected by the customer at the installation site. 3 groups of 6 wires have become 1 group of 2 wires, and the error rate has been reduced by 67%. Customers only need to distinguish the positive and negative poles.
2) High cost performance: Compared with the split solar street light solution, under the same configuration, the all-in-two solar street light has one less battery shell, and the material cost will be lower. In addition, customers do not need to install batteries during installation, and the installation labor cost will also be reduced.
3) Many power options and a wide range of applications: With the popularity of all-in-two solar street light, various manufacturers have launched their own molds, and the selection has become increasingly rich, with large and small sizes.
Therefore, there are many options for the power of the light source and the size of the battery compartment. The actual drive power of the light source can be found in the market from 4W to 80W, but the most concentrated is the 20~60W system.
In this way, solutions can be found in all-in-two solar street light for small courtyards, medium-sized rural roads, and large-scale township main roads, which provides great convenience for the implementation of the project.
The integrated solar street light is a lamp that integrates the battery, controller, light source, and solar panel. It is more integrated than the all-in-two solar street light. This solution does bring convenience to transportation and installation, but it also has certain limitations, especially for areas with relatively weak sunlight.
Advantages of Integrated solar street lights:
1) Easy installation, no wiring required: the integrated solar street lights has all the wires pre-connected, so customers do not need to connect them again, which is a great convenience for customers.
2) Easy transportation, saving freight: all the components are concentrated together and packed in a paper box, the transportation volume becomes smaller, and the freight is also saved.
How solar street lighting can promote positive change
Good lighting is not only a way to showcase a particular area, it can also improve safety, strengthen community ties, and enhance the attractiveness of towns and cities.
Solar lighting goes a step further. In addition to many benefits such as cost and performance, using solar street lighting solutions has a lasting positive impact on the environment, helps shape urban communities and accelerates economic and social development for off-grid populations. More than just a “switch to green energy,” adopting solar lighting is a way for public stakeholders to deliver better and more equitable public lighting services.
Deploying solar street lights on main roads, streets and other public places in cities makes them more accessible, supports commerce and improves social relations.
Additionally, in more remote areas, these lighting solutions help reduce insecurity, theft and attacks. They have a particularly strong impact in sensitive areas such as refugee camps, where lack of lighting can lead to serious crime. Replacing oil or kerosene lamp systems with solar solutions also helps create a healthier environment, improving the health and well-being of communities.
