Solar Street Light System

 
A solar street light system is a revolutionary way to power the streets without using conventional forms of electricity. Photovoltaic technology is used in the form of panels which keep charging and automatically turn on when they sense that there is no light anywhere. The most common model that is used is an LED model which is behind the entire street light solar panel.

The system itself consists of about five major components which are as follows:-

1. The solar panel is obviously the most important part of the street light system as this absorbs energy all through the day so that it can utilize it free of cost at night. Namely there are about two kinds of solar panels (especially in the newer photovoltaic range) which are the polycrystalline and the monocrystalline.
2. LED is the type of light which is used to showcase the power output for one simple reason which is that it consumes less electric power than other types of bulbs or cells. LED is also very easy for a solar street light controller to monitor and evaluate in case there is some damage or the light is in need of maintenance.
3. The solar street light battery is an extremely important component because it stores all the electric power till the unit gets its sensors automatically activated by the lack of light. Each street light is not the same and the in-built battery they come with will vary according to capacity and performance. Most solar street light batteries however can run for at least two days even if the night is followed by an overcast or stormy day in which virtually no electric power is generated. Manufacturers market either a gel cell battery or a lead acid battery.
4. The controller is an automated response for the solar street light and it mainly determines when the street light goes on and off so that a person does not have to be hired to do it. This is a major advantage for the municipality in which these lights are installed because they do not need to hire extra people to regulate these day to day functions.
5. The pole of the street light is the physical element which is going to hold the whole thing together. Solar street lights vary in design and weight when compared with regular street lights since additional wiring and panels are often added on to them so the poles need to be able to withstand all that while being heat resistant and water proof to a small degree.
 

Cons

There are a few cons to this seemingly wondrous invention and they are as follows:-
• The preliminary cost is prohibitive and given that it is a public good, all the money is going to come out of the taxpayer’s pocket.
• If any kind of dust, grime or mold accumulates on top of the solar panels there is a good chance that they might stop working altogether so they do need to be cleaned regularly manually.
• Batteries might be a constant cost depending on the amount of energy the unit is generating and they might need to be replaced even if the solar cells have considerable longevity of life.