HID vs. LED lighting?
Historically, the majority of roadways were illuminated by high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting. The most often used HID metal halide lamps consist of an arc tube (burner), an outer envelope (bulb), and a starting gas. The ballast provides power to the ceramic or quartz arc tube, which then starts ionizing the gas (usually argon, mercury, and metal halide salts).

As the temperature and pressure within the bulb rise, the arc tube’s components evaporate, generating light and ultraviolet radiation. These lights are very bright, but they must be changed every few years and are wasteful in terms of energy use. These are not solar options that are economically feasible.

In light-emitting diodes (LEDs), small microchips generate visible light. This technique of producing light is very efficient, and unlike ordinary light fixtures, the “bulbs” do not burn out. Rather than that, LEDs suffer from brightness degradation, gradually fading over time.

However, this is a very gradual process, and your LEDs will last for many years after installation.

Efficacy of lighting
Lumens per watt (lm/w) is a unit of measurement for lighting effectiveness. This grade is important since it indicates the amount of light created in relation to the amount of energy used. It is just the sum of total light output (lumens) and input power (watts). Solar lights with a high lumen output are not necessarily the best, and you should consider how efficiently the luminaire concentrates its light.

Levels of illumination
The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) maintains a list of recommended light levels for various lighting applications. The recommended levels are specified in footcandles (FC), the fundamental unit of light falling on a surface. With a portable light detector, measurements may be obtained. A ratio of 4:1 (bright/dark) between the brightest and darkest region is regarded as a decent minimum, while a ratio of 3:1 is preferable.

When it comes to street lights, footcandles are more important than lumens since they indicate the amount of lighting received by the floor. Color temperature, expressed in degrees kelvin, should also be considered.

PIR motion detection sensor
Numerous solar street lights have a passive infrared sensor (PIR) to aid with battery conservation. All things with a temperature greater than absolute zero generate infrared radiation as a result of the thermal energy they contain. These sensors operate by detecting infrared light, which enables the sensor to detect movement.

Solar energy and energy storage
Solar street lights harvest energy from the sun and store it in a battery for later use in illumination. Consider purchasing a solar panel and battery combo with a high milliampere-hour (mAh) capacity. Examine the solar panel-to-battery ratio in conjunction with the luminaire’s energy demand. Ascertain that the panel is capable of charging the battery and that the battery has adequate capacity to power the light for numerous hours.

When purchasing street lights, there are several factors to consider; if you have any queries, please contact us. In general, you get what you pay for. The brightness of solar light is determined by the sun’s brightness and the quantity of daylight it receives — but it is also determined by the photovoltaic cells’ quality and the size of the LED bulb. Because higher-quality photovoltaic cells and bigger LED bulbs are more expensive, the more expensive solar lights do beam brighter to some degree.