LED Solar Street Lights in town
I am curious to know what the cost would be to fix all the broke street lights in town and replace them with the solar panel with the LED fixture on existing poles. Would that be expensive or would it be cost savings?
David T. The LED fixtures is worth the expense. Solar would make the cost too high for most people to justify.
Larry M Darst Too bad the LED street lamps along main street look like crap... no "glow" or ambiance... just some ugly view of a reflector.
Mark Mc. There are many types of solar/LED combo lights available from a number of different companies. Many towns have mentioned that street lighting is perhaps their largest energy expenditure. I'm sure that a number of companies would offer lights with a "historic" or less stark type of lighting than is all too often seen.
There are also hybrid styles that rely on some grid usage during the darkest and longest winter nights when battery/solar power may not be quite enough. Of course a bit larger solar panel and higher capacity battery would also take care of that issue as well. The system needs to be sized for the area in terms of length of night and the possibility of a number of darker cloudy days when the battery may not be able to be fully recharged enough to provide light for the full night.
I'm not sure why Larry believe the expense wouldn't justify the cost, since many systems seem to claim a relatively quick recovery of monies spent, plus I imagine there are grants available (get some of our Fed. tax money back to local towns) that would allow for either less upfront cost or less expensive financing for these types of projects. Of course there is always the possibility of a one-time extra tax levy or bonding for the project as well.
There are so many possibilities out there now for any community wishing to upgrade, replace or put into place lighting systems that are much more easily sustainable and would still work even if the power goes out at grid level that it would perhaps even be unwise to pass this idea up, especially if there are support monies on the table for such things. I definitely have to agree with David T., but hope that if done, that Mark's suggestion for period or historic lighting with less glare would be taken into account and acted on too.
Perhaps David or the new councilperson would like to introduce this idea to the city council after doing a bit of research on available systems. Here's just a general sample:
http://www.solarstreetlightsusa.com/images/pdf_files/full_line_brochure-2-2015.pdf
http://antiquestreetlamps.acuitybrands.com/
http://www.sepco-solarlighting.com/decorative-solar-lighting
Phil D. Too bad they are very dangerous for the utility workers when they have to work on the poles
Brad2Thank you all for your suggestions or responses. I will look further into the up front cost of items and installation along with types of fixtures or hybrid systems. The cost seems worth it but not sure if the brightness can also lead to other issues in some of the residential areas unlike higher lighting required in such places as downtown. Homework must be done but if anyone has any additional information I would greatly appreciate the input.
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