At a time when sustainable development and energy saving are in the spotlight, solar energy, as a clean and renewable energy source, is widely used in various fields. In the field of outdoor lighting, Integrated solar street light has gradually become an important choice for modern lighting solutions due to its unique advantages. So, what is one-piece solar street light? Let’s learn more about it together.
I. Understanding Integrated Solar Street Lights
One-piece design concept
Integrated solar street light integrates all the necessary components in one unit, breaking the traditional mode of separation of street light components, and realising the organic fusion of solar panels, LED lights, batteries and controllers. These components are compactly placed together, usually mounted on a pole, to form a simple and efficient lighting whole.
Key Components
Solar Panel: As the key component of energy collection, it converts sunlight into electricity by using the photovoltaic effect, providing a stable power source for the whole street light system. With the development of solar energy technology, the conversion efficiency of solar panels is constantly improving.
LED lamps: the core of lighting, featuring high energy efficiency and long service life, they can produce bright light with low energy consumption and can greatly reduce maintenance and replacement costs.
Battery: Responsible for storing the electricity converted by solar panels for use by street lights at night or when there is insufficient light. Commonly used lithium-ion batteries have high energy density and long lifespan; lead-acid batteries are lower cost and mature technology, but have low energy density, large size and relatively short lifespan .
Controller: the ‘brain’ of the street light system, precisely managing the current flow between the solar panel, battery and LED light, ensuring efficient battery charging, preventing overcharging or deep discharging, and optimising lighting performance according to the needs of the installation location.
II.Integrated Solar Street Lights Features
Integrated design
Installation time and effort are dramatically reduced by eliminating the need for cumbersome assembly of separate components. Maintenance is also more convenient, reducing troubleshooting difficulties and time costs.
Compact and lightweight
Compact design makes the overall weight and volume greatly reduced, in the transport and installation of obvious advantages, whether city streets or remote areas, can be easily transported and installed, reducing transport and installation costs.
Energy efficient
High conversion efficiency solar panels with advanced battery technology ensure that the street light can operate stably in various environments and work normally even under limited light conditions, providing people with reliable lighting services.
Easy installation
Compared with the traditional street light which requires a lot of wiring and connection to the power grid, the integrated solar street light only needs to be installed in a suitable location without complicated wiring works, which is especially suitable for installation in remote areas or areas that are difficult to connect to the power grid.
III. Integrated Solar Street Lights Component analysis
Solar panel
Solar panels are the core of energy collection, using the photovoltaic effect to convert photons into electrons to generate direct current. New monocrystalline silicon solar panels have a conversion efficiency of more than 20%, which improves the ability to capture energy.
Batteries
* Lithium-ion battery: high energy density, long service life, fast charging, can store a large amount of power in a small volume, stable charging and discharging, cycle life up to thousands of times, more reliable use .
*Lead-acid batteries: relatively low cost, mature technology, but low energy density, volume and weight, short service life, need regular maintenance and replacement.
LED lights
High luminous efficiency, can be efficiently converted into light energy, compared with traditional lamps can save a lot of electricity. Life expectancy is generally up to 50,000 hours or more, almost no need to replace the light source, reduce maintenance costs, and fast response time, good colour rendering, lighting effect is more comfortable and clear.
Controller
During the day to control the solar panel to the battery charging, real-time monitoring of the charging status, full of automatically cut off the circuit to prevent overcharging; night according to the light or preset time, control the battery to the LED light power supply, but also has over-discharge protection function to protect the battery life.
IV.How Do Integrated solar street light Work?
Daytime
During the day, the sunlight irradiates the solar panel, which converts the sunlight into DC electricity, which is transmitted to the battery for storage through the controller. The conversion efficiency of the solar panel and light intensity affects the speed of energy collection. Sufficient sunlight and high-efficiency solar panels enable the battery to charge quickly and reserve energy for night lighting.
Night
As night falls and the light fades to a certain level, the streetlight’s photosensitive sensor or motion sensor is triggered and the controller activates the battery to supply power to the LEDs, converting the stored energy into light to illuminate the surrounding area. The duration and brightness of the light depends on the battery capacity, the amount of energy collected by the solar panels during the day and the preset lighting mode. Some smart street lights can automatically adjust the brightness according to the environmental needs, improving the efficiency of energy utilisation.
Factors affecting lighting duration
*Battery capacity: the larger the capacity, the more power is stored and the longer the lighting time, which needs to be selected reasonably according to the demand and environment.
*Energy collected by solar panels: Conversion efficiency, light intensity and time affect the collection of energy; in areas with sufficient light, solar panels can collect more energy to guarantee the power supply at night.
*Lighting modes: Various lighting modes such as full brightness, half brightness, induction mode, etc. Different modes consume different amount of power, which affects the lighting time, for example, in induction mode, the light is fully illuminated when someone is close to it, and low brightness or off when no one is there, which can prolong the lighting time.
V. Integrated solar street light Functional features
Solar powered
Completely rely on solar power drive, do not consume traditional power resources, reduce energy consumption and electricity expenses, reduce environmental pollution, in line with the global trend of energy saving and emission reduction.
Human infrared sensor control
Equipped with human infrared sensor control technology, full brightness illumination when someone or vehicle is near, and switch to low brightness or extinguished state after leaving, which saves electricity, prolongs the illumination time, and improves the efficiency of energy utilisation.
High-capacity and long-life lithium battery
Adopting high-capacity and long-life lithium batteries reduces the frequency of battery replacement and lowers maintenance costs. High-capacity batteries can store more power to ensure that the street light works normally in continuous rain or insufficient light.
No wiring installation
No need to lay cables, easy and fast installation, whether it is a new district, park, or old area lighting facilities transformation, can be easily installed, shorten the construction cycle, reduce the impact on the surrounding environment.
Waterproof structure
Adopting waterproof design, effectively preventing rain and moisture from entering the light body, ensuring safe and reliable operation of the street light in bad weather, protecting the components, prolonging the service life, and safeguarding the safety of pedestrians.
Function expansion to meet diversified needs
In addition to the basic lighting function, it can also expand the functions of timer control, APP remote control, USB interface charging, installation of surveillance cameras, etc., which makes the solar street light become the infrastructure of the smart city and meets diversified needs.
Modular design
Modular design allows each component to be disassembled and replaced independently, and when the component fails, only the corresponding module needs to be replaced, without the need for large-scale repairs or replacement of the entire street light, which improves the convenience and efficiency of maintenance.
Alloy material structure
Adopting alloy material as the main structure, it has good anti-rust and corrosion resistance, and can be used for a long time in the harsh environment to ensure the robustness and stability of the street light.
VI. Integrated solar street light Widely used
Warm lighting in residential area
It can be installed in community roads, car parks, courtyards, etc., providing residents with safe and convenient lighting, creating a warm and comfortable living environment, and its energy-saving and environmentally friendly features are in line with the pursuit of green living by modern residents.
Cosy Lighting for Parks and Trails
Installed in parks and walkways, the soft light is not harsh and can illuminate the road, adding a romantic atmosphere for people walking at night, and the beautiful appearance complements the natural environment.
Practical Lighting for Small Roads
Ideal lighting for small roads with low traffic flow, no need to connect to the grid, easy installation, low cost, can meet the basic lighting needs, low energy consumption is also in line with economic requirements.
VII. Looking to the future
With the progress of science and technology and environmental protection awareness, the development of integrated solar street light has a bright future. The future is expected to see more efficient solar panels, more advanced battery technology and more intelligent control system applications, the appearance of the design will also be more diversified to meet the different scenes and user aesthetic needs. It is believed that in the near future, one-piece solar street light will become the mainstream choice of outdoor lighting, bringing more convenience and greenery to life.
To sum up, integrated solar street light with unique design, excellent performance and a wide range of applications, become a leader in the field of modern lighting, solving the traditional street light in the energy consumption and installation and maintenance of the problem, for the living environment to add green and intelligent luster, looking forward to playing a greater role in the future, to create a better life.
