Street lights which are powered by photovoltaic panels are called Solar street lights. Generally the solar panels are mounted on the lighting structure. The photo-voltaic panels charge a rechargeable battery, which powers a fluorescent or LED lamp during the night. These systems are environmentally friendly, cost-effective solutions for areas with lack of credible grid power supply. Providing automated operation from dusk to dawn, Solar Street have long life and provide trouble free and continuous usage. Solar streetlights are designed to work throughout the night.
1. Solar Cell module: Photo-voltaic panel will convert solar energy into electricity
2. Lighting Fixture: LED is usually used, as it will provide much higher Lumens with lower energy consumption. The energy consumption is at least 50% lower than HPS fixture which is widely used as lighting source in Traditional street lights. LEDs lack of warm up time also allows for use of motion detectors for additional efficiency gains.
3. Controller: A controller will usually decide to switch on /off charging and lighting. Some modern controllers are programmable so that user can decide the appropriate chance of charging, lighting and dimming
4. Rechargeable Battery: Battery will store the electricity from solar panel during the day and provide energy to the fixture during night
5. Pole: Strong Poles are necessary to all street lights, especially to solar street lights as there are components mounted on the top of the pole: Fixtures, Panels and sometime batteries. And wind resistance should also be taken into consideration when choosing the pole.