A very popular application of solar power in India is the solar street lighting system. Solar street lights India follow an outdoor application design: a solar panel to soak up sun’s photons to convert into electricity, a solar controller for automation, a lamp and batteries and an LED for dusk to dawn applications.

India is currently number one of the top countries when it comes to solar street lights, as the number of such installed and at use units at present indicates – 120,000. However, other forms of renewable energy trump the use of a solar street lighting system.

Solar street lights India are very common in non-electrified and remote rural areas and streets. A basic solar street lighting system will operate for a good ten to eleven hours daily, has a battery storage backup with an automatic on and off. These systems have been available for quite some time now – solar street lights India go the green signal quite some time back (since the mid 1970s) – and are today ready for some much-needed innovation. A normal solar street lighting system has a 15-20 years life span. Low maintenance cost further pose as an advantage for our country’s needs: in short, a cost-effective, cost-saving and reliable method of lighting a city or a village street.

On the downside, apart from the cost, some people argue the brightness level of solar street lamp isn’t enough to provide sufficient illumination.

Solar street lights India are widely available all over the country, urban and rural areas equally. Apart from the cost factor, the other niggling issue is the awareness element. Often, the value of a solar street lighting system isn’t recognized and it falls short on vital promotional activity to elicit interest by local governments. It must also be recognized that while solar street lights India are well and good, most of the middle and lower class prefer short-term returns, which automatically hinders the penetration of this market in viable consumer segments – it is, after all, the rural population that would reap the most benefits from solar street lights India. In fact, a solar street lighting system is quite common in developing countries in Africa, the Middle East and in other Asian countries like China, where governments are actively pursuing the field. But it must be said that today, projects involving solar street lights on a large scale are cropping up with more regularity in developed countries as well.

While the solar street lighting system is being continually researched and advanced, other means of outdoor lighting are fast emerging and being accepted as a cheaper alternative, like LED lights. Solar street lights India are still expensive, with cost of production of a unit of solar power ranging from Rs. 15 and higher, far more than cost of conventional means. But given India’s potential, there exist a plethora of solar street lighting system manufacturers in the country. Under the National Solar Mission, solar street lights India should thrive, making them more economically-friendly for the government to adopt and mount.