Commercial solar outdoor LED lighting communicates a renewable story

In the past decade, society has seen an increased growth in implementing renewable technologies and practices into our day-to-day lives. It has integrated into our society, providing a nuance to everyday things like automobiles, thermostats, and even lighting and controls. On a larger scale, we are seeing geothermal used for large buildings, storm water capturing and recycling, and even solar LED lighting that is not connected to the electrical grid. Indeed, the efficiencies afforded by LEDs have breathed new life into solar as we heard at the Strategies in Light Conference back in February. Here we will examine the benefits and challenges of implementation.
Solar led street light wholesale has set itself apart from other technologies by not only providing essential lighting for our everyday lives but also informing facility occupants and onlookers that sustainability was taken into account in the design of the facility. Solar outdoor lighting communicates as it illuminates, conveying a message about environmental stewardship that redounds to the benefit of companies and organizations, as well as builders, developers, and lighting designers.
FIG. 1. The entry drive to Brown Center at Indian River State College provides a prominent sustainability message for a building dedicated to the study of such technology.
FIG. 1. The entry drive to Brown Center at Indian River State College provides a prominent sustainability message for a building dedicated to the study of such technology.
Thanks to advances in solar panel, battery, and LED technologies, commercial solar outdoor lighting is now more reliable than its grid-tied counterparts, and it provides a higher quality of light for a lower cost. Indeed, the cost of solar outdoor lighting has benefitted from synergies in technological innovation in three key areas:
• Reduced cost of solar panels: In recent years, the cost of photovoltaic panels has dropped precipitously — 60% since early 2011, according to the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) 2013 Year in Review.
• Improved battery technology: The growth in the hybrid and electric car markets has improved battery technologies and the result is compact, highly efficient, longer-lasting rechargeable batteries.
• Improved LED efficiency: LED lighting is also gaining in efficiency, which translates to more light with less power, or greater efficacy (more lumens per watt), which equates to a reduced cost for the same lighting output.
As a result of these trends, commercial solar outdoor lighting is now more economical than grid-tied options in many situations. These include situations in which the existing electrical infrastructure is remote or nonexistent, such as perimeter security and greenfield construction, or in which there is a reluctance to disturb the existing paving or landscape — i.e., parking lots, roadways, outdoor storage areas, parks and trails, playgrounds, and campuses. In these circumstances, the payback for installing a solar LED lighting system can be achieved immediately by avoiding the costs of trenching, wiring, and other electrical and utility expenses associated with the installation of a new grid-tied lighting system. Plus, with solar LED lights there is no electricity bill over the more than 25-year life of the system, offering savings for decades to come.
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For many companies and organizations that choose solar LED lighting, however, the cost savings are often secondary to the public relations advantages of powering lights with a green source of energy. Because commercial solar outdoor lights do not use fossil fuels and produce no CO2 emissions, they provide a visible statement of a commitment to the protection of the environment and to national energy security.
Many companies and organizations employ commercial solar outdoor lighting to meet sustainability goals that can be measured by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) rating system, which provides a framework for evaluating the community, environmental, and economic benefits of infrastructure projects. Solar LED lights can also be used to satisfy building-specific sustainability goals, to meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, or to earn points under the US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. With solar led street light fixture, each light becomes a mini-advertisement for environmental responsibility, achieving a level of communication that can't be achieved with traditional marketing tools because it expresses the commitment through actions, not words.