Please raise your hand if you have ever felt misled by the solar street lighting you just installed.
As night falls, the lights should turn on, but they don't. Right now, you may be kicking yourself for being so excited about solar energy and its uses.
The moment you buy a solar street light, this is what ultimately occurs. The company's sales staff presents you with a plethora of figures and statistics, claiming that their solar street light model is perfect for your needs. Additionally, they inform you that it will have five or more days of autonomy in case of adverse weather, which is simply another way of stating that it will continue to function.
Which is that? You won't always have the autonomy that was promised to you, with the exception of those of you who live close to the equator, and you'll think the money you spent on solar street lighting was wasted.
We've got some enticing news for you! Thanks to technological advancements, it is now easier than ever to attain 365 days of autonomy with your solar street light with remote management control and monitoring.
We will go through the basics of smart solar street light technology in this blog article, including how it works and what you need know to make an informed decision the next time. Ready? Let's start.
How to improve the performance and dependability of solar street lights
The Principles of Intelligent Solar Street Lighting
• Solar Street Lighting History We'll begin with the basics. What fundamental components are needed for each solar street light in order for it to function? Let's examine:
Battery and solar panel
Depending on the system voltage, a solar charger controller or inverter
• LED lighting • Networked cables
•Pole We'll assume that you are acquainted with the basic setups of the solar panel, battery, and LED light for the sake of this blog article.
Then, we'll focus on other elements that you need be aware of so that solar street lighting may be clever but also largely useful. However, if you are doubtful, consult this page for further details customised to your needs.
• How Can We Make Smart Solar Street Lighting Smart in the Future? In actuality, it's not that difficult if you know which components to employ. Let's examine:
• Intelligent off-grid controller (there is also an on-grid option, but for the purpose of simplicity, we'll just address off-grid)
• Temperature probe and Motion Sensor
• Computer software intelligent off-grid controller When you swap out your outdated solar charger controller with a smart one, magic starts to happen. The smart solar charger controller performs the same tasks as the conventional one, but it also has built-in communication protocols that enable remote monitoring and control (see this article for more details on this). This gives your street light alternatives for communication, and you can now utilise a PC, mobile, or tablet application to remotely operate it from any location.
How to improve the performance and dependability of solar street lights
movement sensor and a temperature probe
Additionally, once the system's brain is in place, we just need to add a few sensors to make it really intelligent and able to provide lights when we need it.
A motion sensor is a crucial part of the system since it is utilised to turn on the lights when movement is detected. On the other hand, we need to install a temperature sensor (probe) to monitor the battery's temperature and to enhance its performance in order to increase its lifespan. We will go into further detail regarding battery optimisation in the subsequent blog session since it is the most expensive component. For the time being, it is sufficient to be aware that battery performance may be increased, lowering future maintenance expenditures.
software remedy Last but not least, after installing every component of the system, you need software that enables real-time monitoring and control of every solar street light.
In the next part, we'll explain how to utilise a software solution to make solar street lights operate all year long and always be on when you need them.
• Use a remote to control and manage your lights. The most exciting portion will now begin, so let's begin.
No matter where the smart solar street light is positioned, we can monitor the parameters, change them, and respond to different situations once we have real-time remote control and monitoring over the system. Furthermore, if you can foresee what will happen in the future (weather prediction), neither you nor your system will be surprised.
How to improve the performance and dependability of solar street lights
Using a cloud-based solution and data connectivity
Real-time data transmission from the intelligent solar charger controller to the cloud service. Data is recorded for the battery temperature, load ports (in our example, an LED light), battery voltage, and current measurements. To monitor controller-managed services, more than 24 different indications are delivered to the cloud. This data is kept in the Cloud to help with ongoing support, upkeep, and troubleshooting.
recognising motion We will have light available when needed during emergencies and save energy when full light performance is not really needed thanks to the installation of motion sensors and dimming capabilities on each pole. For instance, Barcelona was able to save between 2 and 3 billion euros in power by adding motion sensors to a section of the city's street light network.
Then, for smart solar street lights that automatically adapt to the time of day, a software programme makes it easy to set up and modify lighting profiles. For instance, you may alter the brightness such that it reflects 100% of the light if you are aware that the highest pedestrian frequency is between 8 and 11 p.m. However, you would activate the motion sensor and cut the brightness by 40% since you are aware that few people go by after midnight. Just so you know, your eye would not even perceive a change when you reduced led lights from 100% to 40%. The lights would turn to full brightness as someone walked by (you can even choose how long the light would remain at full brightness once foot activity happens). As a consequence, you keep the same degree of lighting for pedestrians while saving 60% on energy expenditures. This video demonstrates it in use.
The ability to anticipate the weather is crucial. You couldn't make the most of your energies right now if you didn't know what will occur in the future. Let me provide you with an example: We would switch off the lights in our smart solar system and save a lot of energy if we knew there would be rain and no sun for the following five days. In addition, when the terrible weather has passed and sunny conditions are predicted, we may go back to 100% illumination performance. So that you can forecast the future and make the most of your existing energy levels, your programme must include weather prediction and intelligent algorithms.
How to improve the performance and dependability of solar street lights
As a result of its unreliable supply of light, solar street lights have not yet gained much traction as a feasible substitute for traditional streetlights. Modern technology allows us to eliminate the dark character that solar street lights formerly had by turning them into a standardised lighting solution.
