SOLAR PANEL Its task is to convert the sun's energy into electricity. Different sizes and power outputs are available. They have to be carefully chosen for the desired application. Solar panels should be able to withhold and deliver in extreme weather conditions. Some are even designed unbreakable (vandal proof), others will work well in overcast weather. A 20 Year Warranty on good solar panels is not unusual.

SOLAR CONTROLLER The basic circuitry on solar powered street lights consists essentially of an automatic battery charger fed by the solar panel and a lighting controller automated for dusk to dawn operation. Automatic lighting can be triggered by a photocell or a timer. On some models a special feature dims the light at a given time, thus allowing a longer operation time

BATTERIES Maintenance-free batteries are generally used on solar street lights. In addition to providing energy for dusk to dawn operation, they must also be able to supply few days of backup power in case of bad weather or charger failure.

LAMPS The choice of lamps to use in solar powered street lights is dictated by the kind of application you're after:

LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) also known as SSL (solid-state lighting) have a good color rendition. A cluster of extra or ultra bright LEDs forms the lamp. LEDs consume a fraction of the energy of comparable lighting and have a very long life span. Solar LED street lights are an emerging and promising application for LED technology. CF (Compact Fluorescent) lamps produce a white light and are used in places where color rendering is desired. HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps, mainly LPS and MH: LPS (Low Pressure Sodium) lamps generate a monochromatic yellow-orange light and are used when color rendering is not an issue. They have a lifespan of up to 18,000 hours MH (Metal Halide) lamps produce a clean white light and are perfect for applications where color rendering is essential

An overview on solar street lights

How solar street lights work OK, solar powered street lights are full of electronics... The solar panel converts the sun's energy to dc electricity. Voltage is then regulated to a specific value by an electronic circuit to charge the battery. A solar controller protects the battery from too low and over charge. Now for the lighting. Contrary to LEDs, HID and CF lamps require a high voltage, particular current, and frequency to work. It is the ballast's task to feed the lamp properly. We now need to control the lamp. To do so, a timer or photocell does the job of switching the light from dusk to dawn. On some advanced solar powered street lights models, intensity and color can even be adjusted. More info on solar street lighting

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