K-Lite Industries, a unit of Kumbhat Group and one of the leading manufacturers of lighting fixtures in India, has launched solar street lighting system with LED (light-emitting diode) luminaire – a green concept for a greener world.

The product has been developed in the backdrop of rising concerns to save the mother earth from the ill effects of carbon emission in the electricity generation using conventional fuel and avoidance of mercury in the manufacture of electric lamps.

The solar street lighting system consists of a solar panel with photovoltaic (PV) cells that converts the solar energy into electrical energy. The resulting electrical energy is stored in a battery through a solar charge controller. LED Lighting fixture operates directly from the DC battery. Decorative pole, of any height and in a wide range according to aesthetic requirement, by itself can house the solar panel, luminaire, and the control gear box with battery.
K-Lite claims that the life of the solar panel is 20 years. The wattage rating of the panel and the battery capacity (Ampere hours) depends on the factors such as street light wattage required, number of hours it is to burn and the autonomy (otherwise known as the reserve days) for which energy has to be stored as a back-up. For instance, for a 20-watt LED luminaire to burn for 8 hours during night and with two reserve days as back-up, a 12-volt battery of capacity 120 AHr and a solar panel of 100 Wp is required.

The lifespan of the LED source is nearly 50,000 burning hours as against around 5,000 to 10,000 hours of conventional sources such as metal halide/high pressure lamps and 50 times that of GLS (general lighting service) lamps. To obtain the same light output, the power consumption of LED luminaire is just one-tenth of what is required for a conventional GLS lamp.

Though the investment on the entire system is higher upfront, long-term benefits due to the energy saving, longer lifespan, lesser maintenance, social and environmental benefits, outweigh. The complete solar lighting system costs from around ` 20,000 (with 3-watt LED) and goes up to ` 2 lakh (with 80-watt LED).  

The dealers of K-Lite, spread across the country and globally in UK and USA, make the product available to its customers of various locations.