Do Solar Power Street Lights Have Cons?

Nowadays, the development of solar power street lights is very rapid. Not only because of many advantages such as energy saving and environmental protection, another important factor is the strong support of policies. Solar energy is the number one green energy source. The energy of the sun reaching the ground is as high as 800,000 kilowatts per second. If 0.1% of the solar energy on the earth's surface is converted into electric energy, the conversion rate is 5%. The annual power generation can reach 5.6×1012 kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to 40 times the global energy consumption. Therefore, countries all over the world have developed solar energy technology, especially the technological breakthroughs and successful applications of solar energy technology in the outdoor lighting industry have brought a lot of convenience to our lives. In addition to these advantages, solar power street lights certainly have some minor disadvantages. Do you understand all these shortcomings? In this article, we will give you a detailed introduction to the cons of solar power street lights, so that you can have a comprehensive understanding of solar power street lights.

1. The cost of solar power street lights is higher

Solar power street lights are high-tech products, the cost is generally relatively high. Usually, the price of a set of solar power street lights is several times that of ordinary street lights. Although solar power street lights do not generate electricity bills during the later use process and the maintenance cost is very low, but the initial investment of the project is still relatively large. If it is a government project, there are generally a lot of solar power street lights needed.

2. Relying on solar power, which is greatly affected by the weather

The working principle of solar power street lights is to absorb sunlight through solar panels, and then convert it into electrical energy and store it in a battery. At night, the battery powers the lamps under the control of the intelligent controller. This is both the advantage and disadvantage of solar power street lights. If some places are rainy all year round, it is not suitable to install solar power street lights. Because the number of consecutive cloudy and rainy days is too long, the configuration of solar power street lights will be very high, and the price will be more expensive. Not cost-effective for customers. In places where the sun is not particularly sufficient, it is better to use traditional electric lighting. This will not affect the use of street lights, nor will it affect people's lives. For some sunny places, solar street lamp with motion sensor is a very good choice. For example, in Africa, where there is a big sun all year round, street lights absorb solar energy very well. As long as there is sunlight, there is no need to worry about the lighting at night. Moreover, Africa is very poor, and many places do not have electricity. The use of solar power for solar road lights has brought great convenience to their lives. EXC solar power street lights can be customized according to customers' lighting needs, and can guarantee 15 consecutive days of rainy and cloudy lighting.

3. Technical limitations of solar power street lights

The technological development of solar power street lights also restricts its promotion to a certain extent. The main problem of solar power street lights in the market is that they can't support long-term continuous lighting on cloudy and rainy days, or the lighting time does not meet the design requirements; in addition, the battery life is short, generally 5-8 years, and needs to be replaced later. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar power street light panels is low, and the conversion rate of monocrystalline silicon panels is currently only about 20%, which seriously affects the power generation efficiency of solar power street lights. If the conversion efficiency of solar panels can be increased to 50% in the future, it is believed that the application of solar power street lights will become more and more widespread. The heat dissipation of solar power street lights with motion sensors is also a big problem. The LED chip emits a lot of heat while emitting light, and the luminous efficiency of the LED decreases as the temperature rises. At present, when the temperature rises by 20°C, the light efficiency will drop by about 5%. The lifespan and light attenuation of the LED chip will also be greatly affected. It is hoped that in the future, the technology of solar power street lights can get further breakthroughs.

4. More likely to be stolen

The components in solar power street lights are relatively valuable. If solar power street lights are installed in remote places, it is very likely that thieves will steal the lights. In addition to street light poles, other accessories may be stolen, especially batteries.

Although solar power street lights have some minor shortcomings, they have more advantages overall. solar power street lights can save installation costs, save power resources, and reduce electricity expenses. In the long run, the advantages of solar power street lights are still greater than traditional street lights.