How Do you Maintain Solar Street Lights?

Solar street lights are a reliable and stable lighting device now widely used. However, during use, due to lack of maintenance, many solar LED street lights are completely damaged before the expected service life, which also brings huge economic losses to municipalities, communities, and enterprises that choose to use solar lighting. The following article will summarize how to maintain solar street lights.

Regularly clean solar panels and lamps to effectively avoid dirt or debris blocking and ensure the intensity and range of light. Check the battery, circuit, and lamp pole structure in time to prevent safety accidents caused by battery leakage, line aging, or lamp pole corrosion.

The battery is the energy storage center of the solar powered LED street light and is closely related to the lighting time of the street light. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check the performance and charging and discharging of the battery to ensure the normal operation of the battery, which will help extend the service life of the street light.

Regular inspection and maintenance can detect small faults and problems in time and deal with them in time, which can effectively avoid large-scale failures and reduce the high cost of replacing accessories and equipment.

Dust and debris will affect the power generation efficiency of solar panels, and timely cleaning can effectively improve the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of solar panels. Maintenance of smart controllers, etc. can effectively improve the energy efficiency of solar street lights and extend the service life of street lights.

A large amount of debris and dust accumulated on the outer screen of solar panels will hinder their ability to absorb sunlight. Usually, daily cleaning is not required, because rainwater will wash away dust attached to solar panels on rainy days. It is recommended that you clean the panels at least once every six months.

Cleaning solar panels is very simple and does not take much time. You can choose to clean solar panels early or late in the day to avoid cleaning them when the lamps are hot. Use a hose to wet the panels first. This will wash away all loose dust particles and debris, and then use a soft brush dipped in soapy water to wipe off the hard dust layer on the panels. After that, wash off all the soapy water and make sure there is no soap residue on the solar panels.

Because your solar street light gets its energy from abundant sunlight, any plants, trees, or shrubs that may block the sunlight need to be pruned regularly to ensure that your solar panels can fully receive sunlight. Removing objects that create shadows is a key step in properly maintaining solar powered LED street lights. You need to keep a close eye on the shrubs and branches growing around the solar road light and prune them in time according to their growth rate.

If your battery can’t seem to fully charge or the solar outdoor street light is not working properly, it may be due to battery corrosion. Corrosion on the battery or its connections can cause the power output of the solar street light to drop. When checking the battery, carefully remove it from the light fixture and check for dust or light corrosion near the connections and other metal parts. Light corrosion can usually be removed with a soft brush, and more stubborn corrosion may require fine sandpaper to remove. If the battery corrosion is too severe to be easily cleaned, it’s time to replace it.

If you notice that the light emitted by the bulb of your solar street light is getting weaker, it may be that the light fixture needs to be cleaned. Since the bulb is exposed to the outdoor environment most of the time, dust and debris will cover the outer shell of the bulb. Therefore, it is best to remove them from the lamppost and wash them thoroughly with soapy water. Then wipe off the water to make the bulbs shinier.

You should check the wires for damage and disconnection every 3 to 6 months, conduct a detailed inspection of the wires, and replace the wires if any abnormalities or problems are found in the wires to avoid small problems that shut down the entire system.

Q1: How often do solar outdoor street lights need maintenance?

A1: It is recommended to perform a comprehensive inspection and maintenance every 3-6 months. For dusty rainy and snowy areas, the solar panels need to be cleaned monthly to maintain charging efficiency.

Q2: How often do batteries need to be replaced?

A2: Depending on the type of battery, lithium batteries are generally used for 3-5 years, and lead-acid batteries are about 2-3 years. Regularly check the battery voltage and charge and discharge efficiency, and replace them in time if attenuation is found.

Q3: Does the solar street light need to be shut down for maintenance?

A3: Generally, there is no need to shut down, but when replacing batteries or doing circuit maintenance, it is recommended to disconnect the power supply to ensure safe operation.

Q4: What if the intelligent sensing function fails?

A4: Check whether the sensor probe is blocked or damaged, and ensure that there is no obstruction in the sensing area. Restart the system or replace the sensing module if necessary.