Solar Parking Parking Lot Lights: All You Need To Know About
When it comes to parking lot lights, you have to pick what’s best for your parking. The lights you purchase have to be well-engineered, well designed, and typically configured to meet all the parking needs.
You have to be sure that the parking lot lights you purchase are worth it and designed to serve the purpose. This guide looks at the insights and everything about solar parking lot lights.
[toc]
Why do solar parking lot lights exist, and what are they good for?
Solar parking lot lights exist to offer continuous lighting in the evening and at night for around 8-10 hours. These lights are cheap and provide a more cost-effective way of lighting up the parking lots.
Solar parking lot lights are fitted with motion sensors as an additional security feature. These solar parking lights will shine dimly at night, but when motion is detected, they brighten to cover a larger area wherein the parking lot.
These lights may be perfect for your parking lot since they are wireless and waterproof. That means you can mount the light anywhere you deem appropriate.
These lights have sufficient brightness and light at 1000-5000 lumens, making them ideal for parking.
The solar parking lot lights are also an effective way to bring down your electricity bills. As their name suggests, these lights are not powered by electricity. They run on solar energy, which is renewable and very economical. They store their energy in the batteries to be used at night in lighting up dark places.
How much does it cost to install a solar parking lot light?
Installation cost
The installation cost for the solar parking lot lights varies depending on the project at hand. Setting up one pole that bears the solar power assembly could cost around $500 to $2500. However, the AC light installation could vary and become costly.
That is because you will have to bring in the AC power using other infrastructure. It is what makes solar parking lot lights much cheaper than conventional powered lights.
You would have to incur the cost of passing the AC lines to this place and even clear up the path, making it costly.
Project Cost
The number of lights you want to install will determine the total project cost. However, if the AC power and lines are near the areas you want to set up the project, this would be cheaper than purchasing and installing solar lights, more so if you’re going to set up several of them.
That is because the solar parking lights might cost a lot if you plan on buying several of them, and the installation cost will be quite high, but that is in terms of the initial investment.
Long term cost
Not many people give this a thought. Before installing the parking lights, you ought to look at the long-term cost to determine the most viable option for you. As for the solar-powered parking lights, if they were manufactured and sized correctly, they bear little or even no maintenance over their lifespan. These lights will have minute costs as maintenance.
The AC lights have monthly costs where you have to pay for the energy used every month. Recurring costs for the solar-powered lights only include battery replacement which may happen in several years.
What benefits come with installing a solar parking lot light?
The benefits of installing the solar parking lot lights include:
Can be Installed anywhere
Solar lights do not require a connection to the grid. That technically means they are limited to a strategic location for installation. You can install solar lights in remote camps, remote islands, rural roads, and virtually any place the pole can stand.
These lights are also lucrative for natural disaster-prone areas. In case of any disasters, no damages resulting from electricity will be realized.
No electricity bill
Solar lights are powered solely by sunshine. That means the solar parking lot light is an off-grid lighting network. No electricity charges are generated by this system whatsoever. With this system, there is no pollution as it uses renewable energy.
No AC lines
Solar lights save a lot of time and money by not installing conventional electric wiring. What goes into the solar lights system is just an anchor base pole with a concrete foundation.
After that, the solar power assembly is fixed, and the light fixture and that is all. You will have lights on the same day of installation, unlike the traditional lighting methods where there is a lot of work involved.
You have to purchase the wiring, dig trenches or set up multiple poles before you can finally have some light.
Smart control
You can control solar parking lot lights via a mobile APP or remote control. You can easily switch the lights on and off remotely. Moreover, you can change their lighting mode and adjust their brightness.
What drawbacks come with installing a solar parking lot light?
Large initial investment
If you operate a large parking lot and require several solar-powered lights for the lot, then solar lights could be pricey for the entire project. However, they are ideal in the long run since they have no high maintenance costs.
They require sunlight to work efficiently.
Solar parking lot lights depend on the sun to get the energy to light the LEDs. That technically means if there is no sunlight for several days, like during winter, these lights may not be that effective.
Must be exposed
As much as you can place this light anywhere, you have to set it up in an exposed area where the solar will receive the energy directly from the sun. You cannot place the pole under any structure that hinders direct exposure to sunlight. It will not have sufficient power to light up the LEDs for long.
How are they compared to the conventional parking lot lights?
This part discusses the comparison between the solar parking lot lights and traditional lights. The first thing that stands out is that solar lights do not have any electrical power from a grid. No electrical grid infrastructure is required if you choose to install the solar parking lot lights.
These lights use solar energy to light up the LEDs. They will absorb sunlight during the day and store the energy in their batteries. The traditional lighting methods use power from an electrical grid. That means these lights will not work if there is no power.
Solar parking lot lights are manufactured to have a low environmental impact. They use renewable energy to make their solar power, meaning they are quite safe for the environment.
Solar-powered lights use the latest LED technology. This modern technology produces brighter light for less energy. The LED lights have a longer lifespan compared to conventional lights and contain higher lumens.
LED lights may work for more than 80,000 working hours, while the traditional lights could live for about 10,000 to 15,000 working hours. The traditional lights also come with a higher failure rate.
In terms of costs, it will depend on how you look at it. If you look at the initial cost of investment, the solar LED lights are more expensive more so if you purchase in bulk when compared to the traditional lights.
However, the traditional lights will cost you more than the solar parking lot lights if you look at the maintenance and repair costs over time.
In terms of installation, traditional lights require underground trenching and wiring for you to connect to the grid in remote areas. This creates some additional costs in the entire process.
On the other hand, all you need for LED solar lights is to install a solar pole in a concrete foundation. It takes less time to install one solar pole and get done with the job.
Solar lights are now equipped with enhanced intelligent software and hardware communication technology. Their LED functionalities have been improved over time to incorporate data-driven information services, unlike conventional lights.
Most of these solar parking lot lights will have wireless networks, dimming features, and motion sensors. It is rare to come across the traditional lights to switch on and off using an app or remote control.
Do solar parking lot lights need batteries?
Yes, solar lights require a battery to store the energy. These lights do not use electricity from a grid, meaning they have to have somewhere to store the energy used to light the LEDs.
Solar lights use sunlight trapped by the solar to make energy. The solar is responsible for the energy transformation.
After the heat from the sun is converted to energy, it is stored in the batteries. Most of these batteries have a long lifespan meaning it may take several years, like three to four years, before replacing the battery.
You will know when to replace your batteries when the lights start to fade early and cannot go for long hours at night.
Do they work at night? Extreme weather, rain & snow, how much power do they generate?
Solar parking lot lights are manufactured for use during the night. They will light up all the dark areas in your parking lot. However, you need to understand that solar panels do not work at night.
That is because the sun is the only source of photons. This is the energy released by the sun in the form of heat, light among other forms such as radiation. The energy is then transformed to electrical power by the solar to provide the energy to light up the LEDs.
Technically that means if there is no sunshine, then the solar panels will have no photons to convert to electrical power for the lights.
The same case applies to the other weather conditions whereby the solar does not receive sun rays, such as rain and snow. The parking lights will not work since they did not receive their energy source, which is sunshine.
Snow is known to block the solar cell preventing it from charging the battery.
How long will the solar parking lot lights stay on during the night?
These lights require sufficient light to charge and go for long hours at night. If they receive more sunlight during the day, you can be sure to have more hours of full light at night.
Most of these lights will require around 6 hours of sunshine to charge fully. If the batteries are full of charge from the day’s sunlight, they could run for approximately 8 hours during the night.
Can the solar lights catch fire?
Yes, the solar parking lot lights are at risk of catching fire. However, the risk is not that high and can be contained by following some safety precautions.
You have to understand the preventive measures to take as you select the right spot for the lights.
Is the installation of a solar parking lot light worth it?
The short answer to this question is yes. Solar parking lot lights installation is worth it because of several reasons. The lights do not have any carbon emissions; they use a renewable power source, the sun, and are cheaper to maintain and repair.
If you operate a big parking lot, these parking lights will be lucrative in the long run and will save you thousands of dollars in terms of monthly expenses and maintenance.
The conventional lights might be cheaper to install but, in the long run, more expensive to maintain than the solar lights. Solar lights will only require sufficient sunlight to serve you the entire night, but with the AC lights, when the power goes off, you have no lights.
Final Thoughts
Are you still undecided on whether to go for the solar lights or the traditional lighting systems? First, consider the initial investment, which is the cost of investment.
Consider where you have to get the power from if you go for the traditional AC lines, the trenching expenses and the cabling, the monthly costs estimate, and the maintenance.
Then look at the initial investment if you go for the solar parking lot lights and any other expenses involved.
Looking at the initial costs, you will easily develop the perfect solution for your parking lot. It would be best if you also considered the other advantages, such as functionality and the ability to set the solar lights virtually anywhere.