The lack of lighting in remote parts of the world has a knock-on effect on security and safety concerns, especially in cities or along major roadways. Hidalgo, Texas is a rural county with little infrastructure located on the US/Mexican border and is made up of low income communities called colonias and currently experiences high crime rates. The only viable solution to help reduce and lower the crime rate was to improve street lighting. The county authorities turned to a solar solution, when legislation was passed authorizing the installation of lighting which meant collecting fees from local residents to help fund the project.

Ease of Installation

This installation of commercial solar LED lighting systems is much cheaper than  installing grid connected lighting, due to the fact that no cables or wires are required to be buried or strung as well as no need for assessment from the utility to bring power to the site. With this option the residents will have no bill to pay for electricity as it will be free – The use of LEDs means that maintenance costs are low as the bulbs have a longer life span, and also offer a higher brightness and visibility.

According to Matt Ellenberger, Vice President of Sol Inc., a specialist in solar outdoor commercial LED lighting and the company that designed and manufactured the lighting fixture, lensing, the electronicsand the optical end of the lighting system, the lifetime of these lighting modules that power the lighting systems is typically 25 - 30 years. The LEDs have useful life of up to 70,000 hours, which will last from around 15-20 years depending of course on whether they are lit from dusk to dawn or just at certain times.

Ellenberger noted that LED lighting has come a long way in recent years. "Years ago they could light facilities but they didn’t give enough lighting to meet industry standards Today, we meet illumination standards for most applications and the LED lighting performance is far superior."

The way in which the lights work is that they are powered by solar panels (1-4 per lighting system). Four batteries are used to store the sun’s energy so the lights work at night or during periods of cloudy days. The batteries should last approximately 5 years, with Ellenberger saying, "Battery maintenance is the only thing you need to do on regular basis."