CIRA Renewable Energy

A solar lantern is a portable light fixture composed of an LED lantern, a photovoltaic solar panel, and a rechargeable battery. Outdoor lanterns may have a lantern, solar panel and battery integrated in one unit. Indoor solar lanterns with separately-mounted solar panels are used for general illumination where centrally generated power is not conveniently or economically available. Solar-powered household lighting may displace light sources such as kerosene lanterns, saving money for the user, and reducing fire and pollution hazards.

 

Solar lanterns recharge during the day. Automatic outdoor lanterns turn on at dusk and remain illuminated overnight, depending on how much sunlight they receive during the day.

 

Solar garden lights are used for decoration, and come in a wide variety of designs. They are sometimes holiday-themed and may come in animal shapes. They are frequently used to mark footpaths or the areas around swimming pools. Some solar lights do not provide as much light as a line-powered lighting system, but they are easily installed and maintained, and provide a cheaper alternative to wired lanterns.

Solar street lights provide public lighting without use of an electrical grid; they may have individual panels for each lantern of a system, or may have a large central solar panel and battery bank to power multiple lanterns.

 

To reduce the overall cost of a solar lighting system, energy saving lanterns of either the fluorescent or LED lantern type are used, since incandescent bulbs consume several times as much energy for a given quantity of light.