 - Solar public lighting in Adelaide CBD, South Australia
Solar systems for public lighting are expensive so they are not as viable as energy efficient technologies, but they can be a good option where a council or developer wants to demonstrate solar technologies to the community (e.g. in a shopping precinct), or in remote areas where connection to the electricity grid is not available.
Solar technologies have applications in minor road street lighting and smaller park and carpark lighting. They have also been used in major road street lighting (for example, in Queensland – see below) but this hasn’t taken off because solar systems only work with low wattage lights (they cannot power higher wattage lights) and lack sufficient robustness for major road applications.
Other renewable options include Green Power and localised solar installations on nearby buildings
 - Stand alone flat panel design
Two types are available: - Stand alone solar lights store energy generated by the panels in batteries, which are then used to power the lights at night. The batteries are typically housed under the ground near the base of the pole. There are some lights on the market that now house the battery withing a pillar box on the pole.
- Grid interactive solar lights supply electricity to the grid in the daytime, then draw from the grid at night time. Unless the light is running in the daytime, a grid interactive solar light never draws power directly from the solar panel.
 - Port Headland: a stand alone model with tilt down (at base) for easy access to the underground battery. Pole height is 6m and panel has aluminium backing plate (anti vandalism) and bird spikes.
A grid interactive light has four major advantages over a stand alone solar light: - Reduced maintenance requirements. Batteries require substantial maintenance and tend to have issues in temperature of greater than 37 degrees.
- All the electricity generated by the panels is used. In a stand alone system the panels are sized such that in the short winter days enough energy will be produced to power the lights throughout the long winter nights. As a result, in the long days of summer much more electricity can be generated than is needed by the lights through the short summer nights. This energy is wasted.
- A solar light's power output nears maximum at the time of peak yearly demand – a hot summer afternoon. This means that there is potential to sell the electricity generated by a grid interactive solar light at a premium during this time.
- It avoids the risk of lights becoming dimmer in the early hours of the morning due to low batteries, which would potentially raise compliance issues with the Australian Standards.
 - Stand alone tilted solar panel power module
Solar lighting is used on a small scale in several locations in Australia.
Councils understood to have solar lighting or be investigating it include several metropolitan Adelaide councils in South Australia; Douglas Shire Council in Queensland; Craigieburn and the Cities of Boorondara, Manningham, Banyule, Frankston, Buloke, Port Philip, Nillumbik Shire Council and Mildura Shire Council Maribyrnong in Victoria; Warringah in NSW; in Western Australia on the Great Northern Highway, and in remote areas with no access to mains power such as Karratha, Onslow and Port Headland. Many of these installations are not being monitored for performance and failure rates. Some councils are entering into separate OMR style agreements with providers of solar lighting.
 - Grid interactive solar public light scheme
A grid interactive system is essentially two different systems on the same pole – an electricity generator (i.e. the solar panels) and a light. There is no direct connection between the generator and the light. The electric current generated by the solar panels is never used by the light, hence the solar panels could be installed somewhere else on the grid with the same effect.
The advantage of installing the solar panels on the light, however, is that the light looks “green”. A solar light is highly visible and strongly promotes solar energy as an alternative energy source. This is confirmed by preliminary experience from a trial in Mornington, Victoria, which indicated that grid-interactive solar public lights added value to the development and greatly contributed to it being perceived as “green”.
A grid interactive solar pole, complete with solar panel and inverter, will typically be around $3,000 to $5,000 more expensive than a conventional pole. A group of effectively sized solar lights, with an appropriate metering structure and tariff in place, attuned to the spot price of electricity, however, may be able to fully cover their energy, operational and maintenance costs over a 16 to 20 year life if an energy efficient, reliable, standard luminaire is used with it.
If installing solar lights: - It is recommended that you use a switch line for additional flexibility. This is a switch wire that turns all lights on at the same time via a timer or one PE cell for all lights instead of individual PE cells. A new version of a stand alone solar light has a controller that associates the voltage supplied by the cell with lighting needs and a memory of dusk and dawn times.
- Solar light manufacturers generally supply their lights with a luminaire that uses either a compact fluorescent, T5 fluorescent or LED lamp and an electronic ballast. Given the longer life and higher efficacy of a T5 fluorescent lamp, the use of a standard T5 fluorescent luminaire is recommended.
- To deal with vandalism, make sure the mounting height is high and the poles are securely fastened with tamper proof nuts and bolts, especially in remote areas and parks.
- The batteries used in the lighting with the solar panels are lead acid and can be recycled at many scrap metal recycling depots.
- It is not possible to use an existing light pole to install a solar panel because they have not been designed for the extra wind loading from the solar panel, and the modifications needed would generally outweigh the cost of the additions.
- It is possible to fit one solar panel to a lightpole or locate it in the verge, and connect it to multiple, provided there is trenching for the cable to connect each lamp with the panel.
For more information, see the Land Developers' Guide to Solar Public Lighting, a tool developed by Mornington Peninsula Shire.
Solar powered freeway lighting, VicRoads, Victoria, early 2007
In an Australian first, 210 solar panels were installed on noise walls along a 500 metre section of the recently upgraded Tullamarine Calder Interchange to help power nearby freeway lighting. The panels were installed with funding assistance from Sustainability Victoria and enable up to 10% of lighting to be generated from solar power (the equivalent of powering three small homes). The solar panels offset the equivalent of 500,000 black balloons of greenhouse gases every year. For more information contact Andrew Vedder, Senior Surveillance Manager at Electrical Operations, Metro North Region on andrew.vedder@roads.vic.gov.au or Ph + 64 (0)412 558 626.
Xenon Solar Lighting, Queensland, 2003
Choice Electric Company, a Brisbane based supplier of renewable energy power systems, developed two prototypes with xenon discharge lamps, an extremely robust and energy-efficient light source developed for industrial and automotive equipment subject to vibration and harsh environments. Choice also developed one prototype using a more conventional circular tri-phosphor fluorescent lamp. Testing over a 12 month period showed the xenon discharge lamp to provide considerably higher light output but require greater energy and hence larger solar panels. The trial was funded by the Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund. For more information, see the case study.
Sydney Olympics Stadium and Precinct, NSW, 2000
The Sydney Olympics stadium at Homebush Street/path lighting used solar panels for electricity supply mounted on bus shelter roofs, designed by Barry Webb and Associates. Solar street lighting was provided for the main Olympics precinct, the main boulevard, the plaza and the parks near the railway station. Between the Stadium and the SuperDome nineteen lighting pylons, each 30m high and of arresting design, form an unusual sculptural feature. An array of PV cells on top of the horizontal beams generate 150kW, fed into the grid by day and also provide shade. The pylon base incorporates signage, amenities such as public phones, drinking fountains and video screens, while reflectors at each pylon summit provide for street lighting. The lighting ended up being cost-neutral.
 - Sydney Olympics stadium at Homebush
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Victoria, 2004
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council conducted a 12-month community and technical monitoring program of a grid interactive solar public lighting system – the PECAN Engineering GTSPL (Grid Tied Solar Public Lighting) – supplied by Lateral Technology.
The trial, undertaken as part of the Sustainable Energy Authority Victoria's 2004 Sustainable Public Lighting Initiative (SPLI), took place in Orchard Grove, Hastings, Victoria. Orchard Grove is the first grid connected street lighting project in a residential subdivision in Australia. 42 watt compact fluorescent lights were installed on poles which had 100W of photovoltaic generating capacity.
City of Whitehorse and Lateral Technology, Victoria, 2004
Lateral Technology carried out a conversion of a small number of existing stand alone solar street lights to Grid Tied Solar Public Lighting (GTSPL) for the City of Whitehorse.
City of Salisbury, South Australia, ongoing
The City of Salisbury has been running solar-powered lighting on local river trails including Little Para River and Dry Creek since 1993–94. In total, 53 solar lights have been installed along river trails. Each light costs between $2000-$7000, with additional costs for installation and vandalism prevention measures to curb the theft of solar panels and lighting batteries. According to the City, the lights have saved nearly 7 tonnes of CO2e annually when compared with fluorescent lamps of equivalent wattage.
Council has installed a further 60 solar lights on or adjacent to linear trails, reserves, retirement villages, bus stops and beach fronts since the initial trial. For more information, see: the September 2007 Initiative of the Month; the case study published by the City of Salisbury; or contact Salisbury City Council Traffic Engineering Officer, Ken Potter, on +64 (08) 8406 828.
Kapiti Coast District Council, New Zealand, 2006
Council is trialing two solar lights in a rural location not connected to the grid. These are cold cathode fluorescent lights, producing 320 watts of solar energy and include three 80 amp hour gel sealed batteries and 42 watt light bulbs on cobrahead luminaires, giving a 3120 lumen output. To date, the lights are performing well. For more information, contact Jemma Sharman, Climate Change Advisor on +61 (0)4 296 4700.
Transport, Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources, Tasmania, 2008
Transport is trialling some solar powered school signs. The 12v signs will use LED lights and standalone solar power systems, although there may also be a small number of grid-connnected systems in shaded areas. The signs will operate during school hours through all school zones. For more information contact the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources switchboard on Ph: +64 1300 135 513.
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EXlites- supplies stand alone with pole mounted battery
Lateral Technology - supplies both stand alone and grid interactive solar street lighting.
Pecan Engineering - supplies grid interactive solar street lighting.
BP Solar – supply stand alone solar lighting using compact fluorescent lamps.
WA Solar Supplies – supplies many applications for solar lighting, including lights for main roads (in remote areas).
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