Lighting is one of the most vital installations you need to consider, whether in your house, office, or business. Proper lighting allows procedures and operations to go smoothly because people can see their surroundings. There’s little chance you will ever forget about this, for it is an essential requirement in establishments.
Instead, you may want to focus more on how much money you should allocate to achieve optimized illumination in your property. Consider your short-term and long-term budget. Compared to traditional ones, opting for eco-friendly solar street lights may be more cost-efficient in the long run.
How much is a single conventional street light?
One street light may cost around 1300 to 1800 USD. This price only accounts for the street light itself — installation costs, operational expenses, and maintenance fees excluded.
Save money with solar street lights
As analyzed by solar street lights US manufacturers for ten years, you can save as much as 2800 USD when you employ solar lighting in place of conventional lights. You will notice a stark comparison if you look at the initial costs and the operational expenses.
You may spend around 3000 USD upfront and at least 1000 USD for maintenance with solar street lights. However, you don’t have to worry about the electric bills at all! All you need is sunlight, which translates to endless and easily accessible renewable energy for you. Quite intuitively, we know that a conventional one will continuously use energy from your power grid, which can accumulate to a hefty bill over time.
What are some factors that affect lighting costs?
You might wonder why there’s such a vast discrepancy between the two. These differences stem from the technology used in their manufacturing, usage, purpose, installation, wattage, and more.
Technology used
As the word “traditional” implies, traditional street lights are the ones we see primarily on the roads. They work by using electricity that is generated by standard electrical grids. It’s already known that burning fossil fuels like oil and petroleum still make up the most significant part of energy generation worldwide. Hence, the high bills.
On the other hand, solar street lights use energy that is harnessed by their accompanying solar panels. They do not need to use electrical grids as they store sunlight in a battery all day for night usage. Of course, other products like spotlights, security lights, etc. from Olown and other manufacturers may also use solar technology.
Installation
Perhaps installation is one of the most significant factors in lighting costs. Traditional street lights require labor, tools, expertise, and others aside from the cost of the street light itself. An electrician must plan the cabling and trenching upon installation, whose costs may spike up depending on how far the street light is from the transformer.
Solar street lights are much simpler to install. There’s no need for cabling because the sun above your head is the energy source. You only need some screws and screwdrivers to assemble your street light. Some are simplified enough for customers to install them without professional assistance.
Usage and purpose
It goes that larger spaces need more powerful illumination. That’s why considering where you will put your street light is a must. For instance, you may use lighting with low wattage only in your garden and backyard. Of course, highways would need brighter street lamps. Thus, garden lighting may be lower in cost than the other.
Wattage
Wattage refers to the amount of electricity used by appliances, which, in this case, are street lights. Conventional ones used about 400 to 800 watts, while solar street lights utilized 40 to 500 watts. You can’t measure how bright lights are depending on the wattage, but it may help to know that LED lamps in solar street lights can give off high lumens using a relatively low amount of energy.
Traditional street lights tend to use more energy than solar ones because they mainly do not employ LED lamps. It follows that the higher wattage they have, the higher your electric bills would be if they’re in use.
Maintenance
Conventional street lights necessitate high maintenance costs, which are, of course, lower than the expenses needed for solar ones by a significant margin. However, keep in mind that metal halide lights and other bulbs and lamps used in traditional street lights often need to be replaced more frequently than solar street lights.
You may not want solar ones because they require a higher maintenance cost than the others. Battery replacements cost around 1000 USD, which is necessary at least every five years. Regardless, they use LED lamps, as mentioned above, with a longer lifespan than conventional ones.
In the long run
Overall, you know that you can save more money by using solar street lights in the long run. It’s given that they do have high maintenance costs and expenses you have to pay upfront. However, you can save on electric bills and infrequent maintenance of the said lighting fixtures. On top of that, they can meet your street lighting needs.
Conclusion
Having the financial means to buy something expensive doesn’t mean looking for less pricey solutions is not allowed. Knowing which deals can benefit you is a sign that you have good eyes and have learned to be economically efficient. With that, solar street lights would be one of the best options you can consider to reduce your lighting costs.