Schneider Electric, a specialist in energy management, showcased its off-grid solar streetlighting solutions at its Xperience Efficiency event, held for the first time in South Africa on 26 and 27 August 2014.The organisation emphasised that streetlighting is a need in the southern African environment to increase the safety of both its pedestrians and vehicles, and to support nightly social and economic activities. “It is also a much more cost-effective means to light up a city’s monuments and other places of interest,” says James Shirley, business leader for the Schneider Electric’s Solar Business in southern Africa.

He says that the challenges of a grid-connected solution include strong energy consumption due to old and defective materials, resulting in high electricity bills. In addition, an uneven grid and too much pressure on a grid result in no access to streetlighting or load-shedding. “Solar public lighting is booming in new and sunny economies. Eco friendly, it promises electricity and cable free operation for residential complexes, industrial perimeter lighting and public road and area lighting. Last but not least it is often the more efficient way for bringing security and development to numerous people living off-grid,” adds Shirley. “Unfortunately, the current issues associated with solar lighting include no maintenance, vandalism, poor lighting and oversizing.”

He highlights that these issues were taken into consideration and its research and development team created innovative components with a system based approach especially for the southern African geographic and socio-economic landscape. “As such, we offer an energy management streetlighting system that ensures the protection of the battery, provides intelligent lighting management and enhances the battery life,” he explains. Schneider Electric’s NiMH battery also provides extreme resistance to heat, exceptional cycling capacity and an expected lifespan of 10 years, far longer than the general one to two years promised by other solar products currently on the market. The organisation’s LED light engine also has a high efficiency output of 152 lumens/ watt and offer high reliability of IP 67 and IK 08. Added functions are its motion sensors.

The Schneider Electric solutions available are complete offer, answering to all kind of needs, and include: The iSSL+ and iSSL maxi, Integrated Solar StreetLight and the UP, Ultra Performant Solar StreetLight Shirley says that the iSSL Maxi presents a unique all-in-one concept, to offer efficient streetlighting to all remote areas, avoiding electricity bills and trenching. “As plug and play products, the installation is really easy and takes only few minutes. The smart energy management system guarantees no blackout, even during cloudy periods. Tropicalised, iSSL Maxi is very heat resistant and offers a very long lifetime,” he adds.

The UP2 offers powerful light output, perfect for road lighting. Shirley explains that the UP2 is particularly relevant when the solar panel has to be tilted in temperate areas, or when a specific LED lantern is required. As plug and play products, its battery is integrated behind the solar panel. “This smart energy management system also guarantees no blackout, not even during cloudy periods,” he says. Tropicalised, UP2 is very heat resistant and offers a very long lifetime.

“In addition, Schneider Electric is aware how important optics are in streetlighting and offers two optical lenses to match every situation and need. Other differentiating factors include that our solution-based system is easy to install and is theft proof. It is also a complete proprietary system that is CE/ UL certified,” concludes Shirley.