The Pros And Cons Of Solar Street Lighting

When deciding on whether or not to use solar street lights, it’s important that you weigh its advantages and disadvantages compared to the currently available solutions. The following paragraphs will help serve as your guide.

The Advantages of Solar Street Lights

Using solar street lights has a number of advantages over conventional electric street lights. These include:

1. Quick and easy installation. A typical solar street light has its own power source, from its own solar panel to its own battery, so each one can operate independently of other street lights. This eliminates the need to dig trenches so that electrical cables may be laid down to connect all lights. This also means that the work areas will have a smaller footprint, which will cause little to no disruption in the businesses in the area and everyday lives of the people living there.

2. Low long term costs. Once installed, a solar street light requires very little maintenance compared to conventional lights. This is mainly because of the simpler set up of each solar street light, which means that it has less chances of failure over time. Using LEDs also means that these will be able to provide bright lights far longer than sodium vapour lamps and other types of bulbs available in the market today.

3. Practically free energy. Since the light’s source of energy comes from the sun, the power source is practically free. This eliminates the huge costs of powering street lights from the power grid.

The Disadvantages of Solar Street Lights

Solar street lights are far from being a perfect solution, as these also have downsides, such as:

1. High initial cost. This is probably the main deterrent for people when it comes to adopting solar street lighting. The cost can be quite significant especially when replacing lights that run on electricity from the power grid. However, once seen from a long-term standpoint, the potential savings from using solar street lights far outweigh the initial costs.

2. Batteries have to be replaced. Batteries used in solar street lights are no different from other types of batteries in that their performance declines over time. This means they can’t hold a charge as well as they used to, and thus they would have to be replaced. Batteries may have to be replaced several times throughout the lifetime of the street lights, so it’s important to take the costs of doing this.

3. Finding the optimum angle for solar panels. The optimum angle for solar panels depend on where you are located in the world, so this can be quite a challenge. However, having your solar street lights professionally installed means this won’t be much of an issue.

Overall, the advantages of solar street lights far outweigh the disadvantages, especially if you are looking for a lighting solution that has lower overall costs, is environmentally friendly, and lasts a long time. For more information on how solar street lights can be your ideal lighting solution, please send us an enquiry today.

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