Talking Lights with Lao Fan | Don’t Fall for the Wattage Trap — System Matching Is the Key for Solar Street Light Procurement

Hello everyone in the engineering industry, I’m Lao Fan, Fan Xianbin. I have been based in Dezhou, engaged in the street lighting industry for more than 20 years. I’ve witnessed the upgrade from traditional sodium lamps to LED street lights, solar street lights and smart street lights. Our service covers cities in Shandong: Jinan, Liaocheng, Linyi; Hebei: Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Zhangjiakou, Handan, Xingtai; Shanxi: Changzhi, Xinzhou, Shuozhou, Yuncheng. We support municipal and rural lighting projects in these areas.

Recently, I’ve talked with many partners working on street lamp bidding, LED street light renovation and rural lighting projects. I found a common problem: when they look for solar street light manufacturers, their first question is always “How much is a 100W solar street light for 6m pole?” Gradually, rated wattage and the number of lamp beads have become the simplest benchmark for price comparison, yet this is exactly the biggest pitfall in the industry.

Many manufacturers define power simply by counting lamp beads. If there are 100 beads, they advertise it as a 100W lamp head. They ignore that a solar street light is a complete photovoltaic power generation and energy storage system. Mains-powered LED lamp heads run on a constant power supply with stable wattage. By contrast, the output of solar street lights is directly restricted by the remaining power of the battery. When the battery is full, enough current is available to run at full power; once power drops, the controller will limit the current and reduce power output. With the same light board, you can adjust the drive current. Either 50 beads or 100 beads can work at 40W or 50W. Many solar street lights marked 50W or 100W on the market only run steadily at 30–40W.

If you compare prices only by labeled wattage, you will easily fall into the low-price trap. The contract says 100W, but the delivered unit runs at only 30–40W. After installation, insufficient road illumination and poor rainy-day backup will bring complaints from the client, and finally, the engineering contractor bears all the pressure.

Here is my standard procurement workflow for engineering partners: Lock the full set of technical parameters first: operating voltage, operating current, battery capacity, PV module specification, lamp pole structural parameters and smart dimming scheme. Compare quotations only after all parameters are confirmed.

Shandong Yichuang Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd. manufactures solar street lights, mains street lights, LED modules, LED street lamp heads and all-in-one solar street lights for export. All products are insured by PICC, endorsed by sports champions, with complete certifications: CQC, CE, ROHS and CNAS test reports. For export orders of all-in-one solar street lights with lithium batteries, we provide the full set of compliance transport documents: UN38.3 + test summary, MSDS, hazard assessment report and dangerous goods packaging certificate, to guarantee smooth sea and air customs clearance.

We provide one-stop services for municipal road lighting, smart street light and rural lighting projects: site survey, lighting design, bidding document support, production & delivery, and local after-sales service. Feel free to contact me to discuss your lighting projects.