Solar Lighting Street Lighting

Solar Street Lighting: APS

Photovoltaic solar energy can be used to provide a source of clean energy, economic, available on the site, for various lighting applications, among which are the street lighting and lighting spectacular. The solar lighting systems, solar lighting or systems are well designed and provide proper maintenance free and reliable lighting for many years. A solar light contains basically three elements: the solar panel that converts sunlight into electricity, the storage and control system that stores energy and regulates use and the lighting system depending on the requirements technology is chosen light-emitting diodes, light flux density, low pressure sodium vapor pressure.

Assessing the potential of solar lighting. For every lighting need to consider several factors when evaluating the feasibility of implementing solar lighting, factors such as lighting levels, physical characteristics of the installation, cost comparison between solar and conventional luminaires luminaires are decisive factors when to implement conventional solar technology. Solar Lighting for street lighting. The solar lighting equipment are independent unitary systems designed to operate autonomously at 100%, the PV panel is integrated into the post, usually at its tip, batteries and control system are housed in attached to a cabinet post. The lamp itself is the complete unit consists of lighting and focus, ballast, reflector - diffuser and housing. Systems are integrated one or two fixtures per pole.

Lighting levels. The solar lamps provide lighting illumination levels on average 30 lux, depending on the model, mounting height and type of luminaire used this value can change.

The installation site is suitable for solar lighting. The solar panel should be oriented to true south of the installation site, free of shadows most of the day, does the installation area is free of shadows and there are trees, buildings or structures that prevent a good sunshine? There are special conditions to take into consideration such as, extreme temperatures, strong winds or marine environments.

Simplified economic analysis. If you need to install public lighting systems or autonomous solar lights, you should consider the savings that our technology is compared to traditional methods. These savings are reflected not only in the payment of electricity consumption for external lighting concept is zero, but at the time of making a public lighting work must take into consideration the costs as:

Cost of conventional power lines. Cost of trenching. Cost for repair of asphalt, concrete, sidewalks, etc.. Cost of transformers, meters, power lines, etc..

Considering these costs as "normal? in conventional public lighting installations, economic advantages are obtained with our solar fixtures not requiring any previous work.

System Components

Photovoltaic module. The "photovoltaic effect? is a physical process by which the photovoltaic cell converts sunlight into electricity. Sunlight is composed of photons. These photons contain certain amounts of energy depending on its wavelength. When photons strike the solar cell and are absorbed by it, generate electricity. This happens because the photon energy is transferred to the atom's electron solar cell (semiconductor material). With this amount of energy now the electron solar cell can be released from its normal position and make a hole, some of the released electrons can cross the potential barrier of the semiconductor being pushed out through an external circuit, then there is an electric current.

Photovoltaic cells can be made with different materials and technologies. Some of these technologies, used in most commercial modules include monocrystalline silicon cells, polycrystalline and amorphous. Using this technology, each cell produces a DC voltage of approximately 0.5 volts and a current intensity of 1 to 8 A, requires a significant amount of cells to produce a measurable voltage and power. Photovoltaic cells are interconnected in series in groups ranging from 36 to 72 cells that produce an open circuit voltage of about 20 to 40 volts this set of cells make up a photovoltaic module.

The PV modules are a set of interconnected photovoltaic cells in series with the following physical characteristics:

They are encapsulated with silicone or other special organic materials that provide a high transmission of radiation, are hydrophobic materials, to breathe into the cell and condensed water.

Protection for the back of Tedlar or some similar material.

A tempered glass cover.

An anodized aluminum frame that holds the module as a whole.

The set of two or more photovoltaic modules is called array (array English) or photovoltaic panel. Modules that make photovoltaic array can be connected together in series, parallel or mixed form, for the voltage or amperage required by the system.

Batteries. The battery bank of a solar lighting system is responsible for providing electricity during the hours of night operation that has the luminaire. An important aspect to be determined for any battery bank is the same size, ie The amount of energy it can store, the more energy is required to store, the larger will be the bank of batteries, less energy to store the smaller the size of the bank. A higher power source to illuminate a larger area or provide us with higher levels of illumination, but in turn, will consume a greater amount of energy, resulting in increased battery bank size, as well as the installed power photovoltaic panel. The batteries are sensitive to operating temperature as this directly affects the electrochemical reactions that occur within them. When the batteries are subjected to temperatures above ambient electrochemical reactions are accelerated and life decreases, however, when the battery is subjected to low temperatures prolongs life, but runs the risk of freezing due to varying the concentration of acid that has a battery charge status of the same, the higher the discharge, reduced concentration and increased risk of freezing. The ability of a bacterium is typically specified in ampere-hours along with a reference time such as twenty hours, a battery example, suppose the following data have 200 amp hours and a reference of 20 hours (200Ah @ 20hrs).

This means that a fully charged battery provides 10 amperes for 20 hours. These data are provided by the manufacturer.

Tempo controller. Solar lights require a tempo controller that controls the state of charging and discharging of the batteries and the lamp on and off as scheduled. The main functions of a tempo driver are:

· Prevents overcharging of batteries with the photovoltaic panel

· Prevents excessive discharge of the battery with the focus, the focus disconnecting low voltage of the battery.

· Keep the battery in its state of maximum load.

· Controls the operation time of the solar light.

· Serves as a point of interconnection between the solar panel, battery bank and solar light

It uses the voltage of the battery itself to regulate its state of charge and disconnect the electric charge if the battery voltage low a certain level, this type of system uses photovoltaic panel as photo cell and turn on the lamp in the evening, include a time timer or electronic control which is scheduled operating hours of the luminaire.

Fittings. Metal parts are used to join and support the system components with the metal post, are special parts manufactured to the luminaire installed.

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