Smart Street Lightning Using Solar Energy

Abstract

Solar lamp is a lighting system which generally consists of solar panels to gather energy, rechargeable battery to store the charge, LEDs or halogen lamps to provide illumination. Solar controlled lamps produce no pollution unlike traditional sources of light. Most solar lamps turn ON or OFF based on external light conditions. In one of the existing projects, solar panels were the only source of energy for the battery which created an issue if the battery ran out of charge. This project nullifies this problem by introducing the main power grid as a backup in case of insufficient charge in the battery. In another existing project, the solar panel is directly connected to the LED which powers it. The problem with this concept is that the LEDs can only be switched on when the ambient sunlight shines on the solar panel. In the proposed system, the brightness of the street lights is kept at a dim state and the system increases the brightness of the LEDs in the presence of an object and they go to a default state after a certain delay. The proposed system is self-sufficient, eco-friendly, beneficial financially and is especially viable in countries with high levels of poverty and limited or no access to electricity. In the future, the proposed system can use a battery with higher storage capacity and more efficient solar panels. The proposed method can also include an automated self-cleaning apparatus for the solar panel.