SOLAR STREET LIGHTS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

30 Jun.,2025

 

SOLAR STREET LIGHTS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

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Our country has recently gained recognition and appreciation for its expanding solar market when British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, at the Climate Ambition Summit praised India’s incredible advancement towards solar energy. Solar street lights have been replacing traditional lights in roads, runways, parks, stadiums, etc. Understanding the economic benefits, more cities and streets are transitioning to solar energy to illuminate their roads. These lights are typically used to avoid the risks associated with dark streets.

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Impressed by the sustainable and convenient modern street lighting solutions, corporations and governments are taking interest to install solar street lights at intersections and other pedestrian locations. To reduce nighttime accidents and crimes and to increase safety, the lights can be installed at mid-blocks so that the road features are visible to both vehicular traffic and pedestrians. Solar street lights also help to illuminate areas that have little access to grid electricity. Rural areas that run their operations with the help of solar energy can function just like their counterparts and prosper in the areas of education and labor.

Tapetum products are of superior quality and are waterproofed to withstand harsh climatic conditions.  Tapetum offers assistance with product selection and installation and provides the best range of solar street lights, garden lights, flood lights, gate lights and emergency lights.  All in one and integrated solar street lights with diverse technical specifications are available for private and public space illumination.  Tapetum also has a wide variety of decorative and self-sufficient solar garden light and solar gate lights in affordable ranges.

Advantages of solar lights

Solar lights have many advantages; one mainly being it is a self sustainable unit. A solar light works automatically, does not require any manual intervention, charges during the day and switches on during the night. Since it is a self-powered unit, this light does not depend on grid to power it.

Disadvantages of solar light

Solar lights are a modern way of lighting and are self powered. One of the biggest disadvantages of solar lights is due to bad weather sometimes solar lights do not give optimal backup.

Solar street lights are being used in residential and industrial projects too as outdoor lighting. While some use the lights to add beauty to their property, some utilize solar energy to bring in a sense of security and safety into their building and surrounding areas. Like any other energy source, solar energy has a few advantages and disadvantages in its application and understanding both sides of the coin can help you decide if investing on solar energy is worth it.

Advantages and Disadvantages of solar light

Advantages of solar street light

  • Pollution reducing and energy saving:

There is a global awareness now amongst people and authorities regarding the importance of using resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly energy sources. Solar street lights use no fuel to operate and work purely on solar energy. Solar energy is unlimited and imperishable and is the perfect green lighting solution. Non-renewable energy sources like coal, gas, oil, etc. can eventually run out. People are becoming conscious about the fact that the use of solar lights helps in reducing the carbon footprints of individuals, homes and businesses.

  • Cost-effective:

Solar street lights are a better investment option considering the capital plus the operation and maintenance costs. Since these lights are dependent on solar energy, there is no need to pay for your electricity every month. Compared to traditional street lights, solar street lights offer long-term benefits. The lights are wireless and independent of any utility grid so no operational costs are incurred in the installation of these lights. Since no manual intervention is needed after the installation, you may save money in maintenance costs also. It is important to also remember that solar street lights are capable of illuminating throughout the night irrespective of power cuts and harsh weather conditions.

  • No complicated power facilities:

Solar street lights are independent in nature and are not connected to your electricity provider. There is only very minimal cabling required to connect the solar panel to the luminary and there are no external wires used outside or at the base of the pole, so they do not pose any threats of accidents. Overheating, electrocutions or strangulation are out of the question when it comes to solar street lights.

Usually, the commercial power lighting projects are time consuming and complicated since they involve foundation work of cables, digging, cable pipe laying, cable threading inside pipes and ditch landfill. All these procedures require a lot of labors and equipment. Moreover, there are additional costs on the transformer, distribution cabinet, and switch board also. However, each solar lighting system is an independent unit and do not need any trenching, cable laying or other similar procedures, saving time, money and labor.

  • No interdependency weaknesses:

Traditional grid electricity uses a high level of interdependency. Interdependency of cables simply means problems in one area can affect many other connected cables and affect the whole power supply. This is not a concern at all in solar street lighting as each unit is an independent power generating system and if one light does not work, you need to check and fix that single unit only.

  • No cable costs or cable theft:

Cable theft is a common problem in remote areas and laying cables and transportation of materials to those areas can cost you dearly. These issues can be completely avoided when the traditional lights are replaced by a solar lighting system. Since each unit is independent and free from any cable connection, there will be no cable to steal. In case a solar-related theft occurs, it will not affect the operation of any other unit in the system. This helps in reducing any potential losses to a minimum.

  • Intelligent control, easy installation and maintenance:

Solar street lighting uses an impressive dusk-to-dawn feature and is controlled by built-in intelligence. The whole installation process is simple and time-saving. The procedure requires only basic stools and minimum labor, making the process safe and economic. Compared to conventional street lights, solar street lights require very minimal maintenance. Apart from cleaning and doing a few inspections once in a while, there is nothing much to do to ensure its longevity.

  • Available in wide ranges:

Solar lighting technology has evolved over the years and researchers and scientists are still working towards making the panels more effective. In the future years, solar panels prices are expected to be less expensive. There is a variety of solar street lights available now with different features, sizes, types, styles, capacities, etc. and are aesthetically designed to suit your functional needs.

Disadvantages of Solar street Lights

  • Expensive than conventional lights:

Solar street lights in comparison with regular street lights require higher initial investment. People usually hesitate to invest worrying about this but not realizing in the long run, the actual cost of solar street lights is relatively much lower considering the electricity, operational and maintenance costs and the longer life cycle of solar street lights.

  • Risk of theft:

Since the lights are non-wired and costly, the risk of theft is higher compared to conventional street lights. Even though there is no risk of cable theft, the luminary and panel can be easily stolen and the components have relatively higher monetary value.

  • Occasional inspection when placed in extreme weather conditions:

In extreme weather conditions, the solar panels may not function very well which can lead to reduced energy production. Snow, dust or moisture can get accumulated on horizontal solar panels affecting the performance of the PV panels. The users are always encouraged to install the panels at an angle to avoid water accumulation; however, it is also suggested to check the panels and other parts of the light frequently to extend the life cycle of the system.

  • Replacement of batteries:

The modern lithium batteries used in solar street lights have long life compared to batteries used in earlier years. Nonetheless, rechargeable batteries can get exhausted over time and must be replaced a few times within the lifetime of the solar street light fixture. You need to include the replacement cost as part of your maintenance cost while calculating the overall investment to purchase a solar street light.

The most common advantages and disadvantages of a solar street lighting system have been laid out here and it is obvious that the overall pluses outweigh the minuses. Across the world, more and more people are switching to solar energy and taking a huge step towards being environment friendly. It is time that you understand both the pros and cons and decide whether it is worth investing in solar energy. Being a part of this revolution can help not just our generation but also the generations to come to live in a clean, safe, and healthy environment.

Advantages And Disadvantages of Solar Street Lights - Casyoo

Solar street lights are a product of the latest technology, designed to provide illumination in areas that the urban power system cannot reach. By utilizing clean energy, they offer potential solutions for lighting in remote locations. However, while solar street lights are brilliant, they do have certain limitations. In the following passage, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of both the advantages and disadvantages associated with solar street lights.

Advantages of solar street lights

Intelligent control

Solar street lights are equipped with intelligent control systems. They can automatically adjust lighting levels to accommodate different times of the day, ultimately reducing power consumption. Additionally, some models incorporate light, motion, and infrared sensors, enabling dynamic adjustments. This smart management technology helps create ecologically safe and sustainable lighting solutions in addition to saving electricity.

For more Commercial Solar Street Lightinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Energy-saving and environmentally friendly

By utilizing solar energy to generate electricity, solar street lights eliminate electricity costs and energy waste. Solar street lights help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by lowering their dependency on traditional energy sources.

Safety

Traditional street lights provide safety issues owing to poor construction quality, deteriorating materials, unpredictable power supply, and so on. Solar street lights operate at lower voltages compared to conventional street lights, resulting in increased safety. High voltage in AC circuits can cause fire and electric shock risks, whereas low voltage reduces these risks and equipment damage.

Low overall costs

The daily use of conventional street lights requires high electricity bills and long-term maintenance or replacement of circuits and other configurations. Maintenance costs increase year by year. With minimal electricity expenses and reduced maintenance costs, solar street lights provide long-term benefits, making them an economically sound and sustainable lighting choice. The following chart is a comparison between traditional and solar street lights.

The costs in the above table are reference values, and the specific costs quoted by manufacturers in different places will be different. However, it can be clearly seen that the comprehensive cost of solar street lights is much cheaper than that of traditional street lights. For solar street lights installed in urban areas, they have to meet higher requirements on brightness and working hours, so their costs will be higher.

High efficiency

To save as much money as possible, solar street lights often apply the LED lights with the highest efficiency to lower the required power. The high efficiency of solar street lights is mainly reflected in two aspects:

1. Drivers: The mains power supply of traditional street lights converts AC power into DC power, while the driver of solar street lights directly supplies DC power to LED lights. The conversion efficiency of the mains power supply is 75%–90%. As for the solar street light drivers, their conversion efficiency can reach 90%–96%. The difference is more than 10 percentage points.

2. LED lamps: Many traditional street lights have a layer of tempered glass as the lamp shade, while solar street lamps apply LED modules. Without the layer of glass, solar street lights can reduce the light loss by about 20%. Besides, for the same level of brightness, traditional street lights need more power and will emit more heat, which will make their efficiency lower. For example, the overall light efficiency of ordinary die-cast traditional street lamps is about 100–120 lm/W, lower than the 160–170 lm/W of solar street lights.

Long service life

The high-quality components used in solar street lights contribute to a longer lifespan, reducing maintenance costs. By judging the life of the battery, the life of the solar street light can also be inferred. The predictability of street light life improves system stability. 

Choosing high-quality solar street lights can make their lifespan even longer. If you replace the lead-acid battery with a lithium battery, the battery life can reach 10 years. High-quality lithium batteries can be used for 10–15 years, but poor-quality batteries age quickly. After installation, the brightness of the light with low-quality batteries will decrease, and the light will not light up after a few months or a year.

The overall hot-dip galvanized lamp pole will not rust for 30 years. Basically, as long as there is no external damage, it can serve for a long time. The lamp pole that has gone through cold galvanized or galvanized sheet will rust in three to four years at most, and then it will fall down.

Easy installation

Implementing conventional street lights involves complex cable laying and extensive installation and debugging, leading to higher costs. In comparison, solar street lights are simpler and cheaper to install, requiring only a cement base and pole installation. The maximum voltage of the solar street light system is 24V, so there is no risk of electric shock during the installation. Integrated solar street lights are even easier to install, saving on installation costs. No matter for all-in-one, all-in-two, or common solar street lights, the installation is simple:

  • All-in-one solar street lights: They don’t need any wires, and once you turn on the switch, they can start working.
  • All in two solar street lights: There is a pair of matching plugs on the cable; connect them to make the lights start working.
  • Common solar street lights: There are two cables with matching plugs. You can first connect the lamp and then the solar panel.

Wide applicability

It can be installed in remote mountainous areas, islands, and other areas without power grid coverage. In areas where power is tight, grid outages and power cuts will not affect these lights. In this way, they can also reduce the burden on the grid.

Choose solar lights from Casyoo and enjoy the long-term economical benefits they bring!

Disadvantages of solar street lights

Not bright enough

Many users find their solar street lights not bright enough. There are many reasons for this:

  1. false labeling, which misleads the users to buy lights with false power.
  2. The power of the solar street light is low. In order to reduce the price of the whole lamp, the actual power of the solar street light is relatively low. Users need to find professional manufacturers and set a reasonable budget so that they can buy solar street lights that provide sufficient light.
  3. Some solar street lights are set at maximum brightness only during certain periods. This measure is also to reduce the price of the whole lamp, but you can ask for higher brightness at other times, and reliable manufacturers can change the system design to meet your needs.

High initial investment

The upfront cost of solar street lights is often 3–4 times higher than that of traditional street lights. This initial cost might be a deterrent to widespread adoption, particularly in budget-constrained contexts.

Low efficiency of energy conversion

Solar photovoltaic cells have a conversion efficiency ranging from 15% to 19%. Silicon solar cells can theoretically achieve a conversion efficiency of 25%. The effectiveness could be decreased after installation, though, if nearby structures obstruct the panel.

Geographical and climatic reliance

Solar street lights are greatly reliant on geographical and climatic conditions. Their performance may not be satisfying during cloudy days and shorter durations of lighting at night. High temperatures can also reduce the efficiency of batteries and panels, while low temperatures reduce battery capacity.

Low-cost performance and service life of components

High battery and controller prices, coupled with the need for regular battery replacements and the relatively short service life of controllers, contribute to higher operating costs. Component durability and service life thus present a significant challenge in terms of system reliability and long-term cost-effectiveness.

Hot spot effect

Because the design of solar panels makes it difficult to dissipate heat, when a failure occurs on the solar panel, heat in localized areas can build up across the entire panel, causing the hot spot effect. Solar street light panels may suffer from this problem, leading to a reduced lifespan.

Difficult centralized management

Since the solar street light system does not require the laying of wires and cables, each set of solar street lights is an independent system, so centralized management and remote monitoring of the street light system cannot be achieved.

Heat dissipation problem

At present, solar street light systems usually have low power and are suitable for outdoor use at night. The heat dissipation surface is located on the side, which is suitable for the natural convection of air for heat dissipation. However, many lamp head designs enclose the chip in the housing, negatively affecting heat dissipation.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Outdoor Solar Streetlight.

Conclusions