How to Get Most Out of Solar Street Lights in Kolkata

Solar is a revolutionary invention in the history of mankind. It allows us to use renewable energy to generate electricity. Several kinds of solar products have been introduced so far and one of the most remarkable ones is a solar street light. The powerful equipment has capacity to remove darkness in not only roads but also the areas where conventional light systems cannot reach like hills and forests. If your street is lighting up with solar based street lights, it will be important for you to know how to get most out of the equipment. 

Pick the Right Place to Install the Light System

In terms of choosing the right place, you will have to be careful about selecting the place where proper sunlight is received. The solar panels need proper sunlight to charge the battery. It the road is covered with trees, it may interrupt the solar panel to get proper sunlight to charge the battery. Thus, it cannot possible to get light all through the night. So, the selection of the place should be right.

Change the Battery Every 5-6 Years

The solar panels have lifespan of over 20 years but batteries of these standalone appliance need to monitor to know how much efficient it is to backup power. If the battery is not providing enough backup, it will be a sign to change the battery. Every 5-6 years, batteries may need to replace.

Prefer Only Branded Solar Light Systems

Your solar street lighting system should be in good working condition. For this you may need to exceed your budget to buy a branded system. Make sure whatever the company you are choosing to purchase the system is registered with MNRE in India. You can check the company work experience in the field and also go through the client testimonials. Give time to go through the company details because solar street lights are usually more expensive than conventional street lights. This effort will pay you later when the appliance works for a long period of time.

Maintain Periodically

Your solar equipment can work for a long period of time if you take care of it. So, check the system periodically. Remove the carbon deposited in the panel. Check the automatic switch on and off system to know its working condition. Regular maintained will exceed its working lifespan.

Use Good Quality LED

When the solar street lighting is installed, the company provides an energy efficient LED bulb. It may work for 2 or more years. But when comes to replacement of the light, don’t compromise with quality. Use a branded LED bulb only. 

Reasons for Slow Performance of Old Solar Street Lights

Why my street lights are not performing as well as new? The question pops up many times in your mind. You want to know the lifespan of solar powered street lights. The lighting system gives the best output when it is new but as time passes the performance starts going down. You become confused about what exactly happened. You start thinking that the equipment is now old or needs recycling. Before your come conclusion to replace the device with the new one, it is must to know the reason.

There could be two possible reasons of slow performance of solar street lights- batteries and the location of installation.

Replace the old batteries if they run their life cycle

While you purchase a solar street light, you get its all fixture. After 1-2 years it is obvious to notice that its performance is declining. The light is not so bright as before and is considerably diminishing. It is the signal that the batteries are not doing well and it’s time to replace them. If you want to check the efficacy of the rechargeable batteries, test them by replacing them with regular batteries. If the solar light is performing well with the regular batteries, it means there is something wrong with rechargeable batteries. It’s time to replace them.

The batteries are not charging correctly

This could be another reason that you need to watch out carefully. For the best charging, it is important to clean the solar panel on a regular basis. Dust and other accumulated residues can prevent the solar panel to consume the solar energy properly. Thus, the batteries don’t charge properly. The dust particles form a coating layer on the solar panel and prevent the sunlight.

Take the batteries out if you are storing your solar powered street lights for a long period

In case you are going on a long vacation and you want to store your street lights, don’t forget to take out the batteries. If you do so, the batteries lifespan will be longer.

What is the Location of the street light?

Do you notice this? Batteries will not charge properly if the solar panel is not getting proper sunlight. It may possible that the tree shading is preventing the solar panel to get solar energy. It is also possible that a building shade is preventing the solar panel. There are various possibilities that you have to check out.  If you notice something is creating shade to the panel, replace the street light place.

Buy such kind of products from a reputed solar power plant company. Make sure the company is registered with MNRE. Contact your local solar company for replacing the batteries. You can search online of a local solar installation company. You can make search by putting the name of your place along with the keyword such as solar company in Orissa. The search result will show you active solar agencies of your city or state. Also you can simply visit www.careofenergy.com to narrow down your search.