FAQ – Solar and LED Lighting Qestions

A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical device used to create artificial light by use of an electric lamp. All light fixtures have a fixture body and a light socket to hold the lamp and allow for its replacement. Fixtures may also have a switch to control the light. Fixtures require an electrical connection to a power source; permanent lighting may be directly wired, and moveable lamps have a plug. Light fixtures may also have other features, such as reflectors for directing the light, an aperture (with or without a lens), an outer shell or housing for lamp alignment and protection, and an electrical ballast or power supply. A wide variety of special light fixtures are created for use in the automotive lighting industry, aerospace, marine, and medicine.

Portable light fixtures are often called “lamps”, as in table lamp or desk lamp. In technical terminology, the lamp is the light source, which is typically called the light bulb.

The term luminaire is recommended by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for technical use.

The lux (symbol: lx) is the SI unit of illuminance and luminous emittance, measuring luminous  flux per unit area. It is equal to one lumen per square meter. In photometry, this is used as a  measure of the intensity, as perceived by the human eye, of light that hits or passes through a  surface. It is analogous to the radiometric unit watts per square meter, but with the power at  each wavelength weighted according to the luminosity function, a standardized model of human  visual brightness perception. In English, “lux” is used in both singular and plural.

Illuminance is a measure of how much luminous flux is spread over a given area. One can think  of luminous flux (measured in lumens) as a measure of the total “amount” of visible light  present, and the illuminance as a measure of the intensity of illumination on a surface. A given  amount of light will illuminate a surface more dimly if it is spread over a larger area, so  illuminance is inversely proportional to area.

One lux is equal to one lumen per square metre:1 lx = 1 lm/m2 = 1 cd·sr·m–2.

A flux of 1000 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square meter, lights up that square  meter with an illuminance of 1000 lux. However, the same 1000 lumens, spread out over ten  square meters, produces a dimmer illuminance of only 100 lux.

Achieving an illuminance of 500 lux might be possible in a home kitchen with a single  fluorescent light fixture with an output of 12000 lumens. To light a factory floor with dozens of  times the area of the kitchen would require dozens of such fixtures. Thus, lighting a larger area to  the same level of lux requires a greater number of lumens. As with other SI units, SI prefixes can  be used, for example, a kilolux (klx) is 1000 lux.

A sodium-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light. There are two varieties of such lamps: low pressure and high pressure. Low-pressure sodium lamps are the most efficient electrical light sources, but their yellow light restricts applications to outdoor lighting such as street lamps. High-pressure sodium lamps have a broader spectrum of light than the low pressure, but still poorer color rendering than other types of lamps.

Because sodium-vapor lamps cause less light pollution than mercury-vapor lamps, many cities  that have large astronomical observatories employ them.

Another unique property of LPS lamps is that, unlike other lamp types, they do not decline in  lumen output with age. As an example, mercury vapor HID lamps become very dull towards the  end of their lives, to the point of being ineffective, while continuing to consume full rated  electrical use. LPS lamps, however, do increase energy usage slightly (about 10%) towards their  end of life, which is generally around 18,000 hours for modern lamps.

A mercury-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses an electric arc through vaporized mercury to produce light. The arc discharge is generally confined to a small fused quartz arc tube mounted within a larger borosilicate glass bulb. The outer bulb may be clear or coated with a phosphor; in either case, the outer bulb provides thermal insulation, protection from the ultraviolet radiation the light produces, and a convenient mounting for the fused quartz arc tube.

They operate at an internal pressure of around one atmosphere and require special fixtures, as well as an electrical ballast. They also require a warm-up period of 4 – 7 minutes to reach the full light output. Mercury vapor lamps are becoming obsolete due to the higher efficiency and better color balance of metal halide lamps.

The CE marking or formerly EC mark is a mandatory conformity marking for products sold in the European Economic Area (EEA) since 1993. It consists of the CE-Logo and, if applicable, the four-digit identification number of the notified body involved in the conformity assessment procedure. The CE marking is the manufacturer’s declaration that the product meets the requirements of the applicable EC directives.

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive 2002/95/EC, RoHS, short for Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union.

The RoHS directive took effect on 1 July 2006 and is required to be enforced and become law in each member state. This directive restricts (with exceptions) the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. It is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic e-waste.

ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) comply with applicable laws,  regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements, and (c) continually improve in the above.

ISO 14000 is similar to ISO 9000 quality management in that both pertain to the process of how a product is produced, rather than to the product itself. As with ISO 9000, certification is performed by third-party organizations rather than being awarded by ISO directly. The ISO 19011 audit standard applies when auditing for both 9000 and 14000 compliance at once.

The requirements of ISO 14001 are an integral part of the European Union‘s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). EMAS‘s structure and material requirements are more demanding, foremost concerning performance improvement, legal compliance and reporting duties.

The ISO 9000 family of standards is related to quality management systems and designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to the product. The standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, and available through National standards bodies. ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems including the eight management principles on which the family of standards is based. ISO 9001 deals with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard have to fulfill.

Third-party certification bodies provide independent confirmation that organizations meet the requirements of ISO 9001. Over a million organizations worldwide are independently certified, making ISO 9001 one of the most widely used management tools in the world today. Despite widespread use, however, the ISO certification process has been criticized as being wasteful and not being useful for all organizations.

The IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of the IEC is to promote international co-operation on all questions concerning standardizationin the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and in addition to other activities, the IEC publishes International Standards. Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. The IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.

This part of IEC 60598 specifies requirements for:

• luminaries for road, street lighting, and other public outdoor lighting applications;
• tunnel lighting;
• column-integrated luminaries with a minimum total height above normal ground level of 2,5 m;
• and for use with electrical lighting sources on supply voltages not exceeding 1 000 V.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the common type of gas emitted from the burning of fossil fuels. The higher the carbon content in the fossil fuel or the more inefficient the burning process is, generally the more CO2 that is produced.

European engine emission criteria, often referred to as ‘Euro’ standards measure the improvements in engine technology that reduce carbon emissions. These standards started at Euro 1 and in 2007 rose to Euro 4 and Euro 5. The higher the number the higher the emission standards.

When this CO2 is released into the atmosphere it remains there until it is absorbed in some form. For example, approximately 50% of all CO2 released into the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans. Did you know that the North Sea has the highest absorption rate of any ocean on earth?
Animals and plants also absorb CO2.

The ocean absorbs half of all carbon released into the atmosphere. This drives up acidity levels which reduces the ability for crustaceans and mollusks to form shells. These creatures form the basis of the ocean food chain that supports marine mammals such as dolphins and whales.
As a company that interacts with dolphins and whales on a regular basis, this chain of events is relevant to our sustainability journey.

CO2, like all greenhouse gases, does not absorb light waves (like those emitted from the Sun as Sunlight) however when that sunlight strikes the earth it is converted into heat waves that are radiated back into space. CO2 absorbs heat waves because they have longer wavelengths than sunlight does, thus stopping the heat from being reflected into space.

This is called the “greenhouse effect” and has been linked by scientists to global climate change. What is clear is that regardless of this, if we reduce CO2 emissions the air we breathe will be cleaner and that has got to be good for everyone.

Solar street Led luminaries are raised light sources which are powered by photovoltaic panels generally mounted on the lighting structure. The photovoltaic panels charge a rechargeable battery, which powers a LED luminaries during the night.

A solar panel is one of the most important parts of solar street lights, as solar panel will convert solar energy into electricity. There are 2 types of solar panels: monocrystalline and poly-crystalline. A conversion rate of a mono-crystalline solar panel is much higher than poly-crystalline.

The battery will store the electricity from the solar panel during the day and provide energy to the fixture during the night. The life cycle of the battery is very important to the lifetime of the light and the capacity of the battery will affect the backup days of the lights. There are usually 2 types of batteries: Gel Cell Deep Cycle Battery and Lead Acid Battery. TellCo Europe uses only gel batteries as they are maintenance-free.

A controller is also very important to a solar street light. The smart controller will decide when should start charging, stop charging, start lighting and stop lighting. The smart controller is programmable so that the user can decide the appropriate chance of charging, lighting, and dimming.

Strong Poles are necessary to all street lights, especially to solar street lights as there are components mounted on the top of the pole: Fixtures, Panels and sometime batteries. And wind resistance should also be taken into consideration when choosing the pole.

The term off-grid refers to not being connected to a grid, mainly used in terms of not being connected to the main or national transmission grid in electricity. In electricity, off-grid can be stand-alone systems (SHS) or mini-grids typically to provide a smaller community with electricity. Off-Grid electrification is an approach to access electricity used in countries and areas with little access to electricity, due to scattered or distant populations. It can be any kind of electricity generation. The term off-the-grid (OTG) can refer to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities.

Off-the-grid homes are autonomous; they do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid, or similar utility services. A true off-grid house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services.

A program developed by TellCo Europe Sagl to calculate the medium electrical energy supplied by the solar modules. This program can be used for any location on the world map and is used by TellCo Europe Sagl to design its solar system for a particular location and showing the expected survival days.

Indicates the number of cyclic discharges after which the full battery capacity has not degraded.The TellCo Europe Sagl batteries have excellent cycling performance and are tested for 800 cycles at 60% Depth of Discharge C10 (at 20 °C).

The solar panels are factory tested in a flash tester, which has been calibrated to emit the equivalent of 1000 watts per square meter of sunlight intensity at a cell temperature of 25’C (77’F) and an airmass of 1.5.  This flash test shows the STC ratings of the solar panel in Wp.

The NOCT of the solar panels show the reality at 800 watts per square meter of Sunlight Irradiance, an average of 20’C (68’F) Air Temperature, an average wind velocity of 1 meter per second (2.24 miles per hour), with the backside of the solar panel open to that breeze (as opposed to being on a roof where heats builds up under the panels).

Under those conditions, the average temperature of the Solar CELL was found to be about 48’C (118.4’F).

All solar panels show a voltage drop as they heat up. Since Volts x Amps = Watts, the power of the solar panel diminishes as they heat up.

TellCo Europe’s quality standard for solar street lights, the ratio access energy and battery capacity. This ratio covers the solar panel degradations caused by high ambient temperatures and dust and will be calculated for each location.

Supports the solar panels.

The direction and tilt of the solar panels to generate max. energy during the month with less solar radiation.

The interface between the solar frame and the pole, direction turntable 360º with adjustable tilt from 10º to 80º.

The TellCo Europe remote light control utilizes the latest developments in wireless technology and employs RF/GSM technology to program, monitor and control geographically distributed remote street luminaries, in order to optimize countrywide electricity consumption, resulting in massive CO2 reduction.

The TellCo Europe Luminaries are available with individual dimming or remote dimming by using the 1-10VDC interface.

Automatic on/off switching of the solar-powered street lights. TellCo Europe’s proposes daily operation 6 hours at 100% LED power and dimming for the remaining night hours at half power.
The TellCo Europe dimming device allows dimming settings from 1 to 10 hours.

A spare part is an item of inventory used to replace failed parts.

The amount of energy that your solar panels produce depends on your system size, as well as environmental factors such as sun radiation in your area, shade, dust, debris, snow.

Look at the display under “Charging power W”.

TellCo Europe installs solar power systems to be durable and effective over the long term. Many components of your system are designed to last for decades.

Your solar panels do not produce electricity in the absence of sunlight, but the stored energy in the batteries allows using the system as explained under item 7.1.

Your solar panels still generate electricity on cloudy days, since even diffuse sunlight activates solar power production. In case you are using the Zermatt during a cloudy day, the battery will power the system, but it may have an impact on the working hours during nighttime.

Shade on your solar panels will reduce electricity production.  Keep trees or other tall plants trimmed to prevent shade on your solar panel system.

See item 15.1, Solar panel maintenance.

No, but other Solar Homes systems with large battery storage are available.

WARNING: Never attempt to fix or repair your solar power system. Your solar panel system operates at high voltage and contact with any live parts can result in burns, sparks, and lethal shock.

Only TellCo Europe approved installers can repair TellCo Europe solar panel systems.  Do not disconnect wires, open electrical panels, modify, or damage the equipment in any way.

Contact TellCo Europe Local Customer Care to perform repairs.

If you need to make repairs on the roof for any reason, your solar panels may need to be removed and reinstalled.

Please contact TellCo Europe Local Customer Care if you want to start this process.