How to choose a Solar Security Light?

What is Solar Security Light?

Normally, solar security light refers to a lighting system that includes LED Flood light, motion sensor and a solar panel. Other than the traditional cord-electric flood light, solar light is powered by the inbuilt rechargeable battery and it could be charged by the solar panel. The initial cost of solar light might be higher than traditional light but the extra fee is nearly negligible.

Advantage of Solar Security Light

• Solar power is clean, endless, energy saving and environmental friendly
• You don’t have to hire a electrician to install it, low Maintenance Costs
• No electricity bill
• Safe and Stable than corded-electric light

Disadvantage of Solar Security Light

• Power cannot be as strong as corded-electric light

Don’t be cheated by the so-called 30W/300W solar light, the advertising power of solar lights in the market is not the same as that of a corded-electric light. Most manufacturers use the power capacity of the LED chips as advertising technique. Actually, the power of a solar light depends on its batteries, not the led chips. For example, if I uses 60 pieces of 5730 LED chips, one chip loads 0.5W and 30W in total. That means our light could load a full power of 30W. However, please note that this light is powered by the battery pack! Those light normally use a battery pack of 3.2v and the fact power of the light depends on the battery pack. But since there’s not a standard in the market, people would like to check the power when choosing a solar light.

That’s why we suggest we care more about the lumens/brightness, not the power.

• Affected by the weather and the number of triggers

The solar power is affected by the weather condition. If there’s a long time bad weather or in winter, the battery might not be charged well and you might face a situation that you light cannot work. This is very frustrating especially for a SECURITY LIGHT.

• Performs not well in winter in high latitude area.

Normally, the higher the latitude is, the less the solar power will be. So the solar lights performs not well in winter, especially in high latitude area. It will be even worse if you use a solar panel with low conversion efficiency.

What you should care before purchasing a Solar Security Light

• Brightness issue

Check the lumens of the solar light before you purchase it. Just ignore the advertised power.

• Solar panel - size &conversion

The solar panel is the key part of a solar security light. The larger the panel is, the higher the power will be. 

Another factor the is panel conversion rate. Generally speaking, 19%-24% conversion rate is acceptable. The higher the rate is, the sooner the light will be charged to full.

Please also take the installation place in consideration and estimate the cord length (between the solar panel and light)you need.

• Battery capacity

These lights usually use rechargeable Lithium battery pack. Just choose a light with higher battery capacity.

• Adjustable options

This light will works when it’s been triggered. So we could save the power through adjust the sensitivity. A light with more adjust options like brightness and sensitivity will be useful.

• Waterproof performance

I don’t want to say more about waterproof but please choose a light with rating higher than IP65 if you want to use it outdoor.

What we do to improve Solar security Light - a Hybrid Solar Security Light

We really do a lot of research and work on solar security light because we have sold these light all over the world and got so many feedback.

The main improvement are 2 points:

1. Added power option

We added a dry battery compartment that could hold 2 D-cell batteries. We develop an exclusive power manage system to manage the battery. The light could work with D batteries if there’s a long time bad weather and switch to solar mode when the solar battery is full.

2. More light option

We added brightness adjustment to help you save the batteries. You can choose the low brightness in long time bad weather or winter to extended the battery life. A crust is better than no bread.

What we plan to do

According to some feedback from our customer, they don’t want to climb a ladder to change the settings each time. So we are developing a APP to control the light from your phone. If you have any question or suggestion, please feel free to leave a comment below or just contact us. Let’s work together to make a perfect light!