You have probably heard of what solar panels are. They are electricity and light producing sources which absorb sunlight to produce energy and electricity. They are an alternative to electricity made from water and helps save the water by producing energy naturally from the sunlight. The price of solar light continues to fall so that many places and countries can easily replace their electricity source from fossil fuels to natural sunlight.
Integrated solar street lights are the same. They are lighting sources which are raised on a pole. solar panels are attached on the pole at the top to absorb the sunlight and produce light. Integrated solar street panel lights often have a rechargeable battery to recharge the LED or fluorescent bulb attached in them. The solar panels attached on the pole itself powers up the rechargeable battery and helps give light.
Most solar panels tend to turn on and off depending on outdoor source of their energy, whether sunlight is available or not. However integrated solar street lights are designed to work throughout the night even when there is no sunlight available. They are designed to provide light for almost 2 to 3 days without any sunlight source. The older models of integrated solar street light once used to use lamps. Now, LED and fluorescent bulbs are installed in them. Flat solar panels are installed on the top of the solar street light in windy regions. This is done so that the solar panels do not blow off and get a direct source of sunlight. For the solar panel to be better supported, they are made up of metal frames, brackets, reflector shapes and troughs.
The latest integrated solar street lights have a wireless technology installed in them which operates on a ‘fuzzy control’ theory. This is done for better battery management. This helps the integrated solar street panel lights operate as a network. Each light has the capability of either performing on or off the network.
Components Of Integrated Solar Street Lights
Integrated solar street lights mainly consist of 4 main components.
- Solar panels. Without doubt, solar panels are the most important part of an integrated solar street light system. The rechargeable battery will not be able to charge itself if there are no solar panels. These solar panels absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. Solar panels are of two types: mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline.
- The lighting fixtures. In modern integrated solar street lights, LED lights are used. This is because they use less energy to light up for days at an end. LEDs also have motion sensors which only adds to the efficiency of integrated solar street lights.
- Rechargeable battery. These batteries tend to store up the energy from the solar panels and save it so that the LED bulbs can light up at night time. Many types of rechargeable batteries exist but the 2 most common are: Gel Cell Deep Cycle and Lead Acid.
- Poles are very crucial for these lights. The components are often mounted on the pole are integrated within the pole itself.