Solar Street Light Kit – Turns Shoes Into Lamps
Solar Light Street Kit
Available in two size – for three or six lights – and fully weatherproof.
Solar Street Lights Save $221,000
Most people know that swapping old style on-grid street lighting for solar powered versions will save money. But how much?
Managers at Lockheed Martin’s Orange County campus in Orlando found out when they changed their 25 year old street lights for solar street lighting.
Quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, the campus revealed the 35 new solar street lights will cost about $342,000 over 20 years. That includes purchase price and maintenance – of course there’s no ongoing lighting expense because they’re solar powered.
Sound like a lot? Not when you hear how much traditional street lights would cost. Including new wiring and ongoing electricity bills the cost would have been around $563,000.
The good news a similar savings ratio is available those of us in a residential setting. Even if the cost of a solar street lamp is beyond your budget, lower power solar landscape lights can be an inexpensive ‘in’ to outdoor solar lighting.
Solar Street Lights – Not For Just Streets
The use of solar street lights has really taken off recently. Many states in the US and many countries around the world now use solar powered street lights as part of their regular street lighting plans.
Sometimes a solar street light will be used to provide light where previously no road illumination had been provided – either because of cost considerations or the impracticality of putting an on-grid light in a particular place. Other times a new solar light will replace an normal light to pass on cost savings to the state or authority involved. Of course, you don’t have to be a governmental organization to enjoy the same economic benefits.
Most solar powered street lighting is sold in stand alone units – each unit being just like a normal street light except that at the very top is the solar panel used for recharging, while the actual light itself is a little further down the pole.
Installation is usually pretty straightforward. And of course, you don’t have to use them on a street – they make great deck or garden lights too. Prices depend largely on the robustness of the construction and the power output of the light and range from around $190 into the four figures range.
New Jersey’s Solar Street Lights
Drive across New Jersey and you’re likely to see more than a few solar powered traffic signs.
The solar powered signage looks just like a normal sign, except it has flashing lights powered by a small solar panel. The flashing lights make the signs more effective than normal because they can be seen from a greater distance – plus the signs are low maintenance.
Police in Lyndhurst, one of the towns using the new signs, say the new eco-friendly stop and yield signs have reduced accidents caused by driver inattention.
Quoted in the Boston Herald, Timothy Collins, Wayne’s superintendent of roads seems greatly impressed. “You are not paying an electric bill to operate these lights. … These things function 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in all weather conditions and haven’t failed once in three years, and they have shown no signs of any issues.”