Nigeria has an amazing potential in use of solar energy - with an average of five to seven hours of daily sunlight, energy can be stored in batteries for more than two days of autonomy when looking in terms of the application to street lighting. Should the power source of streetlights become solar, one large byproduct is that more of much needed energy from the grid can be redirected to households in need, with the (currently used) small unit generators likely becoming obsolete.
In places where streetlights are scarce, scattered, and unreliable, and the costs for installing conventional grid-based lighting are high, solar street lighting is a perfect alternative. Providing rural areas in Nigeria with solar LED powered streetlights can massively increase the quality of life for local communities. Products such as EnGoPlanet’s solar streetlights can help by being installed with optimal placement, calculated during the initial stages of the project, and with enough battery power to have an autonomy even during the darkest of days.
EnGo solar streetlights are completely off grid and are therefore unaffected by power outages. From the safety standpoint this is extremely important for the busy, high traffic areas in Lagos, where having reliable street lighting is crucial for ensuring optimal visibility of the roads. With 2+ days of complete autonomy, using high quality LiFePO4 batteries, areas covered by EnGo street lights will be illuminated regardless of the weather and power grid conditions.
Another key benefit of going solar is that the overall operational costs can be lowered substantially when converting to a power source that self-generates. An additional cost-effective option is to retrofit already existing poles with options like the EnGo Tower’s module. This is done by placing a single or multiple modules (depending on a pole height and LED requirements) on a pole and fixating each module to the pole, on both ends. The installation process is simple so that retrofitting doesn’t take much time. Efficiency of the LED streetlights are increased with an option of dimming, so that the power of LED module is decreased during the night hours with low local activity.
Additionally, with an option to remotely control the light levels, monitor battery levels and consumption data, the stability of the system can be further optimized to ensure that the community is receiving the desired effects of the solar streetlights.
EnGoPlanet products provide the possibility to connect other devices in addition to the LED modules, such as: CCTV, routers, environmental sensors for flooding and fire detection, etc. In this way the overall safety of the communities can be increased, providing an important step forward into solving Nigeria’s power crisis.