Solar Street Light price. Why the cost of installation makes sense?

by Austin Baines Content Writer

In conventional street light, there is a need to connect the light system to a power grid as well as underground wiring and trenching. All these processes are expensive, time-consuming and cause inconvenience sometimes to road users during installation. The price of assembling all the components of the conventional street light system is often costlier than that of solar street light price.

There is little doubt that solar street lights are gaining ground due to the numerous benefits it provides for the users. The solar street light price is low in terms of energy cost as a result of low energy consumption and free renewable energy source. Solar technologies are constantly improving, which brings the price downfurther.

Solar street light price vs. conventional street light cost

A look at the cost of conventional lighting, which mostly utilizes high-pressure sodium technology or metal halide for lighting shows that it is usually half the price of the initial cost of solar. The price of a single light, the light fixture, base, and pole can stand at an average of $1500. Cheap right! However, that is only the initial cost, when you consider all other costs like installation and maintenance, it becomes way expensive in the long term compared to solar street light price over the same period.

The solar light fixture is made up of a solar panel that converts solar energy into electricity which is stored in the battery as chemical energy to be used at night. Solar panel street light fixtures are off-grid fixtures, which means they can be installed in remote areas. Due to the advanced technologies used in making them, the initial cost is about double that of traditional lighting with the solar street light price going for an average of $3,000 for each solar light. This includes the controller, solar panel, pole, light fixture, and all other component used in a solar street light. Even thou, the initial cost is a bit higher than that of a conventional street light. Conventional Street light eventually bulks up the total cost when you consider installation and maintenance costs.

Although solar street light price could sometimes discourage buyers,however, when you examine the total budget that goes into investing in solar street light then you will see it much more cost-effective investment compared to the conventional street light. The installation of conventional lighting would cost close to $4500, which is substantially higher than the solar street light price.

As solar lighting is independent of the main power grid, users escape the additional cost of wiring and trenching that is done for conventional street light and the cost of installing the solar light decrease substantially to close to $1500. This reduces the overall cost of the solar street light. Additionally, the implementation of commercial solar street light will take between 4-6 weeks from the first contact to installation saving time and money.

How you stand to benefit from the low cost of solar street light

Whether you are changing over from conventional lighting to solar lights or you are embarking on a fresh project. One thing for sure is that you remove recurrent overhead expenses on electricity, which means you don’t have to worry about monthly electric bills again or blackouts.

Yes, the initial cost for traditional electric street lights are cheaper, however, when you sum up extra costs incur over time, they end being more costly. As mentioned earlier, a high-pressure sodium light could cost between $1,300 and $1,400. However, the cost of installation for wiring, and pole setting could be between $4500 and $4600 excluding the monthly electric bills. Electric bills could set you back by $6000-$7000 over the next 24 years for each street light.

A solar street light price could range from $1800 to $4500 based on the requirements of the system you want. On the other hand, the installation is where you save money as the installation is quite affordable and easy. Subsequently, the solar street if off-grid, which means it doesn’t require extensive wiring and costly construction works. The initial outlay saves you 24 years of reoccurring bills and its little maintenance needs mean you spend less on maintenance too. Additionally, the source of energy is renewable and free saving you extra money on monthly electrical bills.

A careful look at all the aspects of both conventional and solar street light will show that you stand to benefit more by adopting the use of solar street light.

Conclusion

The demand for solar street light is expanding and most governments have played a part in the growth of the solar energy sector through the use of incentives. The solar street light price is increasingly becoming affordable as technologies advances and more efficient and cheaper material are made available for use in solar technologies.