The ability to flip a switch or push a button and turn on a light is often touted as a symbol of our industrial society’s accomplishments. Flipping that switch represents the incredible infrastructure of our power grid that gives you access to power when you want it. And yet, in many cases, it doesn’t always make the most sense, in terms of cost and feasibility, to connect to that grid.
Sol Lighting is a company that provides autonomous solar outdoor lighting units. These autonomous units provide an interesting solution to many lighting issues worldwide, as they provide quality light without the need for trenching or wiring.
The company’s main clientele for much of the recent past was the Department of Defense and other government agencies. The lights have been used for perimeter base lighting and outdoor lighting in more remote locations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. At a US naval base in Coronado, CA where the salt water was wearing away the wiring for the grid-tied outdoor street lighting, Solar lighting provided a cheaper alternative to allow the Navy to keep the neighborhood lit at night. As the technological components of the lights have been developed further by industry (PV technologies, LED lights, and batteries), the cost of the systems has dropped making them even more cost competitive. Recently, SOL has moved into the municipal and commercial marketplace with many park and trail projects, such as pathways at the Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanical Garden, as well as other commercial spaces like parking lots and streets.
Perhaps the most interesting application of this technology is as a solution to lighting issues in places that have no access to the grid. Whether that is in Africa, where SOL has already completed some projects, South Tower Estates, a border neighborhood in Hidalgo County, Texas, where solar street lights were just installed, or in disaster relief situations world wide.
SOL’s Matt Ellenberger mused that an agency like FEMA could potentially have fleets of these lights throughout the country that could then be deployed when needed to disaster areas.
