First decision: one body, two bodies, or split
The configuration decides the installation cost before the wattage matters.
All-in-one puts panel, battery, controller and light in one housing on top of the pole. One lift, no cabinet, no trenching. It is the cheapest to install and the easiest to relocate, which is why it dominates paths, car parks, campuses and rural access roads.
All-in-two separates the panel from the light head but keeps battery and controller integrated. It exists for one reason: when the pole top cannot take the panel area or the wind load, or when the light must sit where the sun does not reach.
Split systems put the panel on the pole and the battery in a cabinet at the base or in the ground. They cost more to install and are chosen for high output, long autonomy, or where maintenance access matters — a battery at ground level is easier to service than one at 10 metres.
Second: match lumens to the road, not to the wattage
A 100 W fixture with good optics can out-light a 150 W fixture with poor ones.
| Application | Typical output | Typical pole height | Pole spacing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Footpath, garden path, cycle way | 2,000–6,000 lm | 3–5 m | 10–15 m |
| Estate road, car park, campus | 6,000–15,000 lm | 5–8 m | 15–25 m |
| Collector road, industrial access | 15,000–24,000 lm | 8–10 m | 25–35 m |
| Arterial road, highway junction | 24,000–30,000 lm | 10–12 m | 30–40 m |
| High mast, port, yard | 30,000 lm and up | 15–30 m | per photometric design |
These are starting points for a request, not a lighting design. A real design needs the road width, the surface, the required lux level from the local standard and the mounting geometry. Send those four and the lumens stop being a guess.
Treat the table as the honest order of decisions: road class and width set the lumens; lumens and required autonomy set the panel and battery; panel area and wind load decide whether the configuration has to change.
Third: autonomy is a battery decision
Two to five nights of backup is a design choice you pay for in battery capacity.
Autonomy is how many consecutive nights the light runs without useful sun. It is set by dividing usable battery energy by nightly consumption. Our all-in-one range spans 240 Wh to 1,920 Wh across the 40–260 W models, which is what allows the same platform to serve a garden path at two nights and a municipal road at five.
Two things erode the number you paid for. Dimming profiles that stay at full output all night, and installations where the panel is shaded or dirty. Both are commissioning and maintenance issues, not product issues — but they are the reason two identical fixtures on two sites behave differently.
Be sceptical of a supplier who quotes autonomy without asking for the site's winter sun hours. The same battery delivers four nights in one country and two in another.
Fourth: documents, delivery, and what the price includes
The cheapest quote is usually the one missing something.
For a tender or a municipal project the document set matters as much as the fixture: CE marking with EMC and LVD test reports, IEC-referenced test data where the specification calls for it, and manufacturing under ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. Ask which of these are supplied with the shipment and which cost extra.
On delivery, clarify what the unit price covers: fixture only, or fixture plus bracket, plus anchor cage, plus foundation design. On solar street lights the bracket and pole interface are where quotes diverge most, and where installation surprises come from.
Finally, ask for the warranty document, not the warranty sentence. Cycle life, capacity retention, and who pays for the freight on a claim are the three clauses that decide whether the warranty is real.
Solar street light FAQ
All-in-one or split — which should I buy?
All-in-one for paths, car parks and access roads where installation cost dominates. Split when output is high, autonomy is long, or the battery must be serviceable at ground level. All-in-two covers the case where only the panel needs to move.
How many lumens do I need for a 7 m pole?
Typically 6,000–15,000 lm for a 7 m pole on an estate road or car park, depending on spacing and the required lux level. The pole height alone does not determine the answer — road width and spacing do.
What IP rating should I specify?
IP65 as the baseline for outdoor lighting. Specify IP66 where wind-driven rain, washdown or coastal exposure is expected, and treat the pole entry and cable gland as part of the ingress design, not an afterthought.
What is the minimum order quantity?
It depends on the model and the configuration. Tell us the project quantity and destination and we will confirm MOQ and lead time in the quotation rather than quoting a catalogue figure that may not apply.
Can you supply the pole and bracket too?
Brackets and pole interfaces are part of the offer. Poles are quoted per project with the wind load and foundation design, because a pole sized for a 6 m estate road is not the pole for a 12 m arterial.
Plan a solar lighting project with us.
Send the road class, width, pole height, required autonomy and destination. You get a configuration, a lumen figure and a document list before any quotation.
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