Photovoltaic Lighting vs Electrical Lighting in Rural Areas

Even though the economy of the world has made great progress in recent years, but there’re numerous poor rural areas still exist. Many people in these areas are suffering from starvation, as well as darkness when night falls. Though many countries have allocated plenty of resources to develop infrastructure in the countryside, there is still a big gap between the rural and the urban. Many people are still using kerosene lamps for lighting even in this modern era, because both the power plants and power grips are deficient and unstable. Most of the time a modern electrical light can’t well devote itself, for the electricity issue. It is hard to imagine that people in these rural areas can safely go outside and fully have fun with their neighbors in the evening. Nowadays, photovoltaic lighting products have gradually appeared in the rural areas, which represents a new era.

Compared with the traditional electrical lighting, what are the advantages or disadvantages of the photovoltaic lighting? And what changes can photovoltaic lighting bring to the rural areas? We have made comparisons between these two types:

1) Installation

Before an electrical light can be in operation, it is indispensable to lay a long electrical cable under the ground to transmit electricity, which is a complicated assignment.

On the contrary, the installation of a photovoltaic light is rather simple. For a photovoltaic light can gain electricity from its photovoltaic panel attached, there’s no need to lay a cable. What you have to do is find an appropriate place needs lighting, make a cement base and then attach a photovoltaic lighting system to it.

2) Cost

The cost of an electrical lighting system is relatively low at the beginning. But it will consume electricity when people turned it on, and the amount of electricity fee would not be small after a day-to-day accumulation.

For a photovoltaic light, it is a one-time investment and will not consume electricity when in operation. Though the cost of it is higher than an electrical one, it’ll generally pay back your investment within 3 years. Moreover, you will spend less money on the maintenance.

3) Maintenance

A complete photovoltaic lighting system consists of a LED module, a photovoltaic panel, a battery, a battery thermotank and a controller. Among them, the battery is most likely to go wrong in daily use, which needs maintenance or replacement every one or two years.

Similarly, some components of an electrical lighting system and the cable connected to it also need maintenance regularly.

4) Safety

The circuit of an electrical lighting system is more complex than that of a photovoltaic lighting system. And because the cable connected to the system is perennially laid under the ground, it is easy to be broken after many years of corrosion. Additionally, it will cause potential risks when the electrical cable is placed with other pipelines.

By comparison, a photovoltaic lighting system is safer. It is an ultra-low-voltage product that it operates in a safer and more reliable manner.

To sum up, photovoltaic lighting products have become more and more popular in the rural areas. They are environmentally friendly, easy for installation and maintenance and safe. It is obvious that there’s a huge market ahead for the photovoltaic lighting industry. comment↓