The revived idea about the solar energy has been steadily gaining momentum since the 1990s, only to become more prominent since 2010. In 2015, countries with large-scale solar plants have managed to produce enough solar energy to account for 1% of all energy resources worldwide. Compare it to 2005, when the total amount of solar energy produced accounted for a mere 0.01% of world’s energy, and you’ll see how far solar has come.
With a boost in production came a variety of applications of solar energy, one of them being powering street lights. Solar street lighting has proved to be an outstanding alternative to the traditional grid electric lighting, with more and more solar street lights being installed across the USA.
The way solar street lights work is pretty straightforward; each light post has its own solar panel and battery. During the day, the panel collects the sun’s energy, generates electricity and transfers it into the battery. The transfer is also called battery charging, which, naturally, occurs only by day. At night, the generated electricity is discharged by powering the street lights.
For compelling reasons to go solar and, more specifically, use solar energy to power solar street lights, check out the infographic below: