Our Solar Lighting Products Technology

Solar Street Lights USA products are high-quality, high performance, engineered systems, designed and sized for each specific application and location. Our solar lights are comprised of solar electric power systems, light fixtures and structural components.

Sizing the System

All our systems undergo a rigorous engineering and sizing analysis to ensure short and long term performance and reliability. Our engineers determine the proper photovoltaic array, battery characteristics, light fixture specifications, and controller operation for optimum balance to maximize component life, minimize inefficiencies, minimize physical size and to reduce overall costs.

In designing the  photovolatic array we utilize NREL solar insolation data and NASA weather data; and we consider local impacts such as shading from structures, trees and hilltops. As as a safety factor, systems are sized with high photovolatic array-to-electrical load ratios to ensure electrical integrity. These ratios are often determined by customer requirements and typically range between 1.15 and 1.4. These ratios are evaluated during the time when there is the least amount of sun and the energy demand is highest, which is around December 21st in the northern hemisphere.  

In well designed systems, the weakest component should be the batteries. Our batteries are high quality deep cycle batteries and are able to withstand more than 4500 deep cycles at 15% depth of discharge. Our engineers choose and size the batteries for a life of at least 7 years in hot climates and 10 years in moderate climates. Our engineers consider the daily loads, depth of discharge, temperature, and days of autonomy (days with zero solar input) during the sizing process. 

The challenge for proper lighting design and light fixture specification is the interaction of many variables and then determining the appropriate balance between them. Key variables include visibility, aesthetics, fixture type and wattage, fixture and spacing, light pollution, risk and security, comfort, and energy efficiency. Solar Street Lights USA engineers work diligently with customers to ensure a pleasing design and one that meets appropriate light levels which are typically based on IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) illuminance recommended practices. Our light levels are authenticated by true independent 3rd party certified IES files, a practice recommended by IESNA. Our IES files, photometric report and analysis are available for our customers to independently substantiate calculations and statements of facts.

Major Structural Components

The Brilliant Sun^TM  (Patent No. 610-536) is a top-of-pole mount for for the photovoltaic array and is designed for our GridFree and GridSmart product lines. It is a structurally efficient and architecturally pleasing design patented by Solar Street Lights USA. Brilliant Sun can support up to 740 Watts of PV modules and withstand high wind loads.  Brilliant Sun is made from heavy gauge galvanized steel and uses stainless steel hardware for corrosion resistance. It is designed to tilt from 0 to 180 degrees and rotates 360 degrees for easy and proper array orientation. It can be colorized in any PMS color for additional protection or visual enhancement.  Brilliant Sun only weighs 71 pounds making it easy and fast for installers to mount on a standard tenon.

Our SmartPole^TM is a heavy duty galvanized steel pole designed to complement the Brilliant Sun mount. The standard poles are square 5" x 5" and  6" x 6" and range between 20 to 30 feet in length. Wall thicknesses are 5/16" and 3/8" however heavier gauges can be ordered on a custom basis. The pole can also be custom ordered with a round cross section. A 4" OD x 6"  steel tenon is welded to the top side of the pole and a 1" thick steel base plate with holes is welded to the bottom of the pole. All welding and holes for mounting the fixture and battery enclosure are pre-drilled then the enire pole is galvanized. The pole comes complete with anchor bolts and pull string to simplify wiring. The pole can be optionally coated in any PMS color for added protection or for visual enhancement.   

Light Fixtures

Solar Street Lights USA standard GridFree and GridSmart lights are induction lights. GridFree and GridSmart lights can be manufactured with LED lights on a custom basis.

Induction Lighting

Solar Street Lights USA is partnered with Everlast Lighting of Jackson, Michigan. Everlast Lighting manufactures state-of-the-art engineered fixtures in the United States and has the highest quality induction fixtures in the world. The lights are well proven and and have won numerous awards including  the 2009 Best Practice Award in a joint demonstration program with University of California, Davis campus and California Lighting and Technology Center.

The induction lamps used in the fixtures are an electrodeless florescent style light and have instant-on/instant-off capability, which is useful for sensor activated applications. The lamps last up to 100,000 hours and operate between -40F and +130F. Our DC induction lamps are driven by Solar Street Lights USA low frequency rf generator (patent pending). This generator operates at 215 Hertz and alleviates the EMI issue inherent with higher frequency generators. Our standard Color Rendering Temperature is 5000K, however colors ranging from 3600K to 6000k are available on a custom basis. The CRI ranges between 80 and 90.

Our standard induction light fixtures are the Cobra Head and Shoe Box style.  They each are offered in a "Classic" design or in the modern "Smart" design.The Classic versions are constructed from a die cast aluminum housing and are powder coated for corrosion resistance. The Classic fixtures include an anodized aluminum reflector, optimized for light distribution and a tempered glass lens.  The Smart versions are constructed from 80% recycled polycarbonate resin and contain an aluminum specular reflector optimized for induction lamp geometry. They also include and integrated heat sink for extended life. Fixture styles for non-pole mounted applications are available on a custom basis and include flood lights, wall mount, high-bay, and low-bay fixtures. The fixtures can be colorized in any PMS color additional protection or visual enhancement.

The GridFree lights use 24 VDC versions of the fixture whereas GridSmart uses AC versions. Test results show the operating performance of the DC fixtures slightly more efficient than the AC versions.