How LED Solar Lights Work in Park

We have a high demand for energy, but most energy is nonrenewable. On a global scale, over half of energy is produced by burning fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide and causes climate change. The limited amount of energy resources and rising times of extreme weather urge people to use renewable energy sources.

Solar energy is one of the most plentiful and attractive resources. With advanced technology, solar energy is able to convert to electricity, lighting up the fixtures. The use of solar light is environmentally friendly, reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Except for less carbon footprints, the key advantage of solar light is the wireless design. The wire-free design is perfect for places that have high requirements for the safety of pedestrians or places where there is no electrical grid, such as parks and gardens. Parks are popular with residents. They enjoy playing, walking, and sporting in parks. This post would like to talk about how LED solar light works in parks.

What is LED solar light

You may have heard of solar lights and seen them along the roads or in the garden. But, what is LED solar light?

Generally, LED solar light is composed of LED lighting units, battery, solar panels, and charge controller. Some LED solar lights are also included inverter. LED solar light is a lighting system powered by electricity from batteries, which are charged with the use of solar panel. In other words, LED solar light utilizes solar energy and converts it to electricity. Battery stores the energy. Solar panels consist of crystalline cells and create electricity from sunlight as the photovoltaic effect. The charge controller ensures the safety of the system, avoiding overcharge or discharging the battery. The inverter is the part that inverts DC current produced by solar panels to AC current, allowing electricity usable for home appliances.

Nowadays, most solar lights are aesthetic with integrated design. They are in the same appearance with normal lights but without wiring. Sensors like PIR and sound are also added to solar light to achieve smart control.

Advantages of LED solar lights

• Using solar energy makes LED solar lights environmentally friendly, with low carbon dioxide emissions and low electricity bills.
• LED solar lights do not need to be wired, resulting in less maintenance. LED solar lights are also capable of plug-and-play.
• The use of LED contributes to lower heat and longer lifespan than conventional lights. Moreover, LED can light up instantly.
• LED solar lights create little hazards, protect residents from being hurt by UV and IR radiation.

Disadvantages of LED solar lights  

LED solar lights also have disadvantages.

• The batteries used for storing electricity are AGL or GEL batteries, having a lifespan of three to five years. It means that batteries need to be changed after years of working.
• The capacity of storing electricity is limited. In consequence, LED solar lights can only last for three to seven days without solar energy. Though it can meet the common requirements, it will fail to light up the park under extreme weather conditions.

How LED solar lights work

LED solar lights work as a result of the photovoltaic effect. Solar panels are full of solar cells, which collect solar energy and convert it to DC electricity directly. That is why LED solar lights must be located outdoors. Then the rechargeable batteries store the electricity during the daytime. After that, the batteries power the solar light when it comes to dark or at night. But the converting rate depends on sunlight intensity and the weather conditions. If it is cloudy, a lack of solar energy will decrease charged rate of batteries and cause shorter lighting hours. For home appliances, adding an inverter to invert DC  current produced by solar panels to AC current allows electricity usable for home appliances.

 

How LED solar lights work in parks

When it comes to park lighting, we should pay attention to three questions. Who is active in the park? What are their activities in the park? When do the activities take place? All the designs are served for the people in the park and aimed at meeting their needs.

Who activities in parks

A park is a place for relaxing and recreation. Regardless of age, all residents are away from concrete buildings and enjoy the nature in park.

What are their activities in parks

There are various activities in the park. Some of them walk at a low speed to relax themselves. Other residents may be doing sports, like riding bicycles, to strengthen themselves.

When do the activities take place

Residents are active in parks almost all day long. Early morning and late night are less activities, while most residents are active during evening hours. For example, they may go for a walk after dinner.

Ways of LED solar lights work in Parks

After knowing the answers to the three questions, we can concentrate on the ways LED solar lights work in parks to meet the lighting needs of residents.

Adequate Illuminance

A survey shows that parks are highly related to the health of residents. Walking, running and cycling are the exercises to help residents keep fit. Park lighting should provide a safe and secure environment for residents. Adequate lighting is essential for brightening environments and offering better visibility. But brighter lighting does not inherently better experience. Park lighting has lower requirements than street lighting. A low level of ambient lighting brings clearer overall visibility and a safer feeling.

Lighting levels recommended by IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) are as follows:

• Trail lighting: 0.6 foot candles average with a 3.0:1 average to minimum ratio.
• Building entrances: 5.0 foot candles minimum.
• A light loss factor of 0.9 shall be utilized for all LED lighting calculations.

Smart lighting control

To ensure appropriate and lower energy consumption, solar lights are controlled according to the activities of residents and the environmental conditions.

Adding a motion sensor is a way to control lighting on or off automatically through the activities of residents. When residents enter the park, solar lights will turn on automatically and light up the path. After residents pass the detector area, solar light dims to less brightness slowly. In this way, electricity use is minimized, and residents are provided with clear visibility.

The energy converted rate (from solar energy to electricity) is highly reply on the environmental conditions. Inadequate sunlight conditions such as cloudy, rainy, or winter cause a low conversion rate. To solve this problem, the built-in energy management system is included in solar lights. The energy management system adjusts the lighting intensity dynamically based on environmental conditions. If there is insufficient sunlight, the lighting intensity will be adjusted to the lower level and conserve more electricity in batteries.

Another smart lighting control is achieved by dimming the lighting intensity in different periods. The park is open all day long, there are few residents present in the park at dawn and late night. In this way, solar lights operate at full intensity for a period before dawn. Solar lights are turned off during the daytime. Then they returned to full intensity till dusk and lasted for a period. At last, they are dimmed to about 25% of full intensity during late night. The period of time for different lighting intensities is adjustable due to the location and local climate of parks.

AGC provides solar lighting solutions for parks. The all-in-one design brings smart and durable solar lights to areas without access to electric gird. 8 hours of sunlight charging is able to work continuously for up to 3 days. Integrated motion detection allows you to set lighting schedules based on your specific preference. Contact us for more info.