5 Types of Solar Street Lights You Should Stay Away From

Every night, the lights come on and the whole city is full of lights. Among them, the proportion of lighting equipment powered by solar energy is getting higher and higher. Many projects tend to choose these lighting equipment powered by clean energy, which can not only reduce the environmental pollution caused by lighting projects, but also avoid high electricity bills. However, the solar street light market is mixed nowadays. When choosing solar street lights, many projects pay more attention to low prices rather than quality, which leads to the failure of installed solar street lights to meet lighting needs and brings a series of troubles. Next, Nokin Solar Street Lights will share with you which five types of solar street lights you should avoid when purchasing, and what factors you need to consider when choosing solar street lights suitable for your project. I hope this article can bring you some useful help!

Solar Street Lights Equipped with Low-Quality Solar Panels

As the core component of the solar street light system, the quality of solar panels directly determines the performance of the entire system.

Why to Avoid Low-Quality Solar Panels

Low-quality solar panels usually attract customers with low prices and false propaganda, but we must know that you get what you pay for. The energy conversion efficiency of low-quality solar panels is far below the normal level. Under the same lighting conditions, they cannot produce enough electricity to support the normal operation of solar street lights, especially under insufficient lighting conditions, such as rainy or foggy weather. This problem is more obvious. Insufficient power will cause a series of problems such as insufficient brightness of solar street lights, or a significant shortening of duration, flickering, etc., which seriously affect the lighting effect.

Main Points for Purchase High-Quality Solar Panels

Solar street light manufacturers recommend that you must carefully check the relevant parameters of the product when choosing solar street lights, give priority to those solar panels with high energy conversion efficiency, and judge whether the solar panels match the needs of batteries and lights by checking the wattage and voltage output. The solar panels with higher conversion efficiency can generate more electricity under the same lighting conditions, ensuring the long-term operation of solar street lights.

Solar Street Lights with Insufficient Battery Capacity

The battery is a key part of solar street lights to store energy, and its capacity is directly related to the lighting time of street lights at night.

Why to Avoid Insufficient Battery Capacity

If the battery capacity is too small, it often cannot meet the preset lighting time requirements when used at night. Especially when encountering continuous cloudy days, rainy days and other weather with insufficient light, the battery cannot be fully charged, which will cause the street lights to go out early, causing great inconvenience and safety hazards to night travel.

Key Points for Purchase Larger Battery Capacity

When choosing a battery, make sure that its capacity can meet the lighting hours required by the street lamp every night. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider the impact of local climate conditions on battery performance. For example, in cold areas, the capacity of the battery will be affected to a certain extent, so it is necessary to choose a battery with a relatively larger capacity to cope with the weakening of battery performance due to low temperature.

Solar Street Lights Using Cheap LED Bulbs

LED bulbs are the light-emitting components of solar street lights, and their quality and performance directly affect the lighting effect and service life.

Why to avoid Cheap LED Bulbs

Although LED bulbs are generally known for their durability, cheap LED bulbs often have defects in manufacturing processes and materials. This will result in a shorter service life, lower light output, and easy flickering, dimming, and even premature damage during use. Frequent replacement of bulbs not only increases maintenance costs, but also affects the normal use of street lights.

Key Points for Purchase Good LED Bulbs

When selecting LED bulbs, choose products with high lumen output and good color rendering index (CRI). At the same time, choose LED bulbs from well-known manufacturers, which usually have a long service life and stable performance. High lumen output can ensure sufficient lighting brightness, and a good color rendering index can make objects present more realistic colors under the light.

Solar Street Lights with Short Warranty Period

Warranty period is an important indicator of product quality and manufacturer confidence.

Why to Avoid Short Warranty Period

Generally speaking, a short warranty period (such as less than 3 years) largely indicates that the manufacturer lacks confidence in the durability and reliability of the product. If you buy a solar street light with a short warranty period, once quality problems occur during use, you may need to bear the cost of repair or replacement of parts yourself, which increases the cost and risk of use.

Key Points for Purchase Comprehensive Warranty

When purchasing solar street lights, choose products with comprehensive warranty, which should cover major components such as solar panels, batteries and LED bulbs. A longer warranty period not only provides more protection for users, but also reflects the manufacturer's recognition of the quality of its own products.

Solar Street Lights with Poor Installation System Design

The installation system is the supporting structure of the solar street light, and the rationality of its design is directly related to the safety and stability of the street light.

Why to Avoid Poor Installation System Design

Poorly designed mounting systems are difficult to withstand the test of various natural environments and are prone to damage when encountering strong winds, heavy rain, heavy snow and other weather conditions. Moreover, this mounting system may give thieves an opportunity to take advantage, increasing the risk of street lights being stolen. In addition, an unreasonable mounting system will also be very difficult to adjust and maintain in the later stage.

Key Points for Purchase Sturdy and Safe Mounting System

Choose solar street lights with a sturdy and safe mounting system. This mounting system can withstand various local weather conditions such as strong winds, heavy rain, snow, etc. At the same time, the mounting system should also be easy to install and adjust, which is convenient for later maintenance and repair work.

What Other Factors Should Be Considered When Purchasing Solar Street Lights

In addition to the above 5 types of solar street lights that need to be avoided, when purchasing solar street lights, the following factors should also be considered:

Local Climatic Conditions

The climatic conditions in different regions vary greatly, and the design of solar street lights must be able to withstand the specific climatic conditions of the installation location. This includes drastic changes in temperature, high humidity environments, and a lot of precipitation. For example, in areas with high temperature and high humidity, solar street lights with good heat dissipation and moisture resistance should be selected; in cold and snowy areas, street lights need to be able to withstand the pressure of low temperature and snow accumulation.

Ease of Maintenance

When purchasing, consider the ease of maintenance of solar street lights and the availability of replacement parts. If a solar street light has a complex structure, it is time-consuming and laborious to maintain, or its replacement parts are difficult to purchase, it will cause a lot of inconvenience in the later use process. Choosing solar street lights with simple maintenance and easy replacement parts can reduce maintenance costs and time costs.

Anti-Theft Design of Solar Street Lights

For some areas with high crime rates, the safety of solar street lights is particularly important. Consider the anti-theft design of street lights, such as anti-disassembly screws, sturdy shells, etc., to reduce the risk of theft. At the same time, the installation location of the street lights should also be reasonable to avoid providing convenience for thieves.

Overall Design of Solar Street Lights

The design of solar street lights is a key part of determining their quality. If there are defects in the design, the parameters of solar panels, batteries and other components may be improperly designed. From the actual use effect, solar street lights with design problems often show problems such as short lighting time and insufficient service life. Therefore, when purchasing, pay attention to whether the overall design of the product is reasonable and scientific.

Road Lighting Standards

If solar street lights are used for road lighting, they must also meet relevant road lighting standards. Consider various parameters of LEDs, such as power, lumen value, light distribution, etc., to ensure that they match the height of the lamp pole, the spacing between the lamp poles, and the width of the road. Usually, these parameters can be recorded in IES files by professional machines. Lighting designers can use simulation software such as DIALUX to determine whether the lamp meets the lighting requirements based on the IES file. The main judgment parameters include illuminance, uniformity, etc.

Hardware Accessories of Solar Street Lights

If the solar panels, batteries, and LED lights are installed on the lamp poles separately, confirm whether the sizes of all accessories are appropriate. If the size and weight of the solar panels and batteries are too large, it is necessary to check the reliability of the fixing of the hardware accessories to prevent loosening and falling during use. For example, although the solar panel itself is not very heavy, it may generate hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of force in windy weather, so the wind resistance of the hardware accessories must be guaranteed.
 

In addition, the material and surface treatment of the hardware accessories should be checked. If the hardware accessories are made of iron and the surface treatment is not appropriate, it is easy to rust, corrode and other problems, affecting its service life and safety.

Quality Control of Solar Street Light Production Materials

Do not blindly pursue low prices and choose low-quality raw materials. For batteries, since it is one of the most expensive accessories in solar street lights and has the greatest impact on the overall performance, even inferior batteries may have the risk of violent combustion and fire, so be careful to choose suppliers, and it is best to go to the battery pack factory for quality control, because the parameters of the battery require specific instruments to detect.
 

For solar panels, the quality has been relatively stable in 2022, and high-quality solar panels usually have a 10-year warranty and a 25-year service life. However, the solar chips used in cheap solar panels are of lower grade, and their service life may only be a few years or even a few months. Therefore, when purchasing, it is necessary to clarify the grade and brand of the solar chips used, and pay attention to the packaging and transportation of the solar panels, especially when ordering in small quantities, to ensure the safety of the packaging.
 

For LEDs and PCBs, they should be powered on for testing before production to check whether the LED chips are soldered on the PCB. For solar charging controllers, do not choose low-quality, low-priced products to reduce costs. The defect rate of high-quality controllers can be as low as 1%.
 

For the shell, when it is shipped to the factory, carefully check whether there are scratches, paint peeling and other defects on its surface. If it is a custom-sized shell, it is also necessary to check whether the holes for fixing various accessories are correct. For wires, since all accessories inside the solar street light need to be connected by wires, and waterproof connectors are required between the wires, it is necessary to prepare wires of appropriate length with waterproof connectors in advance during production, and check whether the length of each wire is correct.

Selection of Major Accessory Suppliers

Batteries, solar panels and controllers are the most critical materials in solar street lights, and you must be extremely cautious when choosing suppliers for these materials. Generally, you can consider choosing a larger company, because the size of the company can reflect the market's recognition of the company to a certain extent, and the products provided by large companies are often more guaranteed in terms of quality and after-sales service. In order to ensure that the supplier can provide high-quality products, it is best to sign a warranty agreement with the supplier.

Solar Street Light Production Quality Inspection

In order to ensure that the mass-produced solar street lights have a low defect rate, a series of quality inspection processes are required. The following are some key inspection points:

 

Conclusion

Choosing a suitable solar street light requires comprehensive consideration of multiple factors. From the quality of solar panels, batteries, LED bulbs, to the warranty period, the design of the installation system, to climate adaptability, maintenance convenience, material supplier selection, etc., every link is crucial.
 

Only by carefully identifying and avoiding those solar street lights with obvious defects during the purchase process can we choose high-quality, reliable and efficient products, so that they can provide us with stable lighting services in long-term use, truly give play to the advantages of solar street lights, and contribute to energy conservation and environmental protection.