India is a developing country and yet many villages are under the grip of darkness preventing those people from going out of their homes at night. This is one of the reasons why many accidents and crimes takes place making the localities feel unsafe and threatened.
The concept of solar street lights is not known to many and even if people are aware of it they refrain from buying it due to the cost. So, if we can provide the long lasting, low costs and less maintenance lights the problem of darkness can be removed from these areas up to certain extend.
In a country like India off grid solar street lights are suitable as they are not dependent on grid and cab continue to give power even during power cuts in remote areas. Conventional solar street lights consisted of Lead Acid batteries in a battery box where it stored the energy and powered the street lights at night.
Conventional street lights had some disadvantages like:
- Apart from the costs, these LA batteries had to be put in a box and attached on the bottom of pole of the street light not very far from ground level which resulted in frequent thefts and damages.
- Since LA batteries were huge and bulky it required lot of time to get charge and used to give less backup.
- The solar panel and LED lights were connected to LA batteries with the help of a long cable which made the installation process complicated.
- LA batteries need frequent maintenance because; during rains once the batteries are wet it has to be refilled back to keep it going.
Modern solar street lights with in-built lithium ion batteries :
As modern solar streets lights started capturing the market, it made installation and maintenance much easier. These lights have in-built lithium – ion batteries which are non-aqueous, light in weight compared to LA batteries and they get charged very fast.
Modern solar street lights with in-built lithium ion batteries are perfect for country like India.
- Due to the inbuilt Lithium ion battery it makes it hard to steal because the battery is fixed inside the LED and is placed far up the pole which makes it impossible for thieves to steal.
- Since the batteries are fixed in the LED lights there are less losses with compared to conventional solar lights which are connected through a cable.
- Lithium ion batteries get fully charged within 5 hours of time and it can run up to almost 13 hours. Means quick charging and more backup which is much needed in remote areas of India where electricity is a major issue.
The modern solar street lights are non-aqueous, light in weight and long lasting. It is almost maintenance free which makes it convenient to uses so just plug in and forget.
