The Basicals of Solar Powered Outdoor Lighting

Solar power is a great way for businesses to cut down on their energy uses and provides a dependable, renewable source of energy. Not only can you save money with solar powered lighting, you can also help make a difference to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced.

Solar light runs off a relatively simple concept: as long as the solar cells capture enough of the sun’s energy and converts it into power, you will have light. The solar cells convert the heat and light from the sun into an electrical current, which is then stored in a battery that your lights are fed off of. This ensures that if a cloudy day appears the solar lights will still have battery power to run off of.

Outdoor solar lighting requires the use of a solar power component with contains photovoltaic solar panels (solar cells), a control system, and one or several batteries. The power component is then linked to specially designed light which are more reflective and have higher energy ballasts than traditional lighting systems.

Here is how the system works:

The sun’s energy charges the electrons in the solar panel, creating a current.

The direct-current (DC) is captured during the day and stored in a rechargeable battery

The battery powers the lights each night

The control system manages when the lights turn on and off, and ensures that the battery does not become overcharged

By installing solar powered outdoor lighting you are choosing an independent system that requires no power plant, transmission lines or transformers. Solar lighting will provide safe, reliable illumination even when traditional power is not operating. Each light operates on its own system, so if one should happen to fail the rest of the lights will be unaffected.

While initial costs for solar lighting is higher than traditional lighting systems, once purchased and installed all power used is completely free of charge. Calculated over 10 or 20 years the savings can be quite impressive.