The Modern Trends in Solar Street Lights

Advancing into a sustainable world, there has been a paradigm shift globally onto the usage of solar-powered products. Solar street lights are the emerging renewable light sources for our streets. They use photovoltaic (PV) panels or commonly called solar panels for the conversion of solar energy into electrical energy.

Components and types of solar street lights

Many types of solar street lights are manufactured based on different types of each component.

• Solar panel /PV:

Firstly, panels are available for various wattage systems starting from a minimum of 8W. Two types of panels of conversion are available, namely, mono-crystalline & poly-crystalline. Monocrystalline panels have higher conversion rates.

• Lighting fixture:

Smart solar lights use LED lights against fluorescent lamps as they consume lesser energy, are highly luminous and save capital. The Government of India runs the world’s largest streetlight replacement programme called LED Street Lighting National Programme (SNLP). The Greater Chennai Corporation has switched to LED lamps for street lights which is helping them save about 30Cr annually!

• Pole:

The pole needs to stand strong for climatic variations like rain and wind resistance. Usually, the pole has attached to it, the lamp, PV and additional accessories, if any. Nantech provides durable and corrosion resistant poles with an alluring look.

• Battery:

A battery is rechargeable during the day. It is meant to store the electrical energy which is converted from solar energy by the PV and is used during the night. Energy can be stored to work as a backup on cloudy or rainy days, thus making the lifetime of a battery crucial. While the gel cell deep cycle batteries & lead-acid batteries are common, the lithium-ion batteries are an emerging trend because of their higher lifetime of about 5 years.

Novel Features Of Solar Street Lights

• Not only are they environmentally friendly products, new features can save a great deal of energy and bills as well.
• Most products today have an automatic controller which switches on the street light when the sun (or a bright light source) is not detected and gets dim or switched off accordingly in the day.
• There is a feature of dimming of lights in some smart products today when no movement is sensed about 4-10 metres around the street light. (motion sensor)
• The best kind of products need low maintenance costs, easy and quick installation, all of which is covered by Nantech for its customers.

Trends

• The Government of India targets to install solar renewable energy sources producing at least 100GW energy up till 2022. It includes solar street lights, solar panels for domestic use besides mega solar projects. Tamil Nadu is one of the five leading states for utility-scale solar projects.
• The market got hit due to covid crisis but with government initiatives and advanced product features, the demand is ever increasing.
• It is observed in the regional market trends that developing countries like India are preferring solar lights as part of rapid urbanization and smart cities development. They are suitable for cities like Chennai with sunny weather where frequent power cuts are experienced, best installed at locations where electric supply reach is inadequate.

Solar street lights can be used for residential, commercial as well as industrial purposes. The appealing and substantial benefits of switching to cleaner and greener energy resources has struck people around the world! Do check out our products at Nantech Power Systems Pvt Ltd.