Solar lights are a sure way to reduce your electricity bill, whether they’re solar garden lights, patio spotlights, or streetlights. But what happens when those lights do not shine bright the way they used to? Thankfully, there are only a handful of causes for solar light to grow dim or go out, and in most cases, it’s not hard to make lights brighter.

To determine the problem, first, think about how solar lights work. The solar cell changes sunshine into electricity. A flow of charged particles makes its way to the battery and recharges. A sensor detects whether it’s dark outside and turns on the light when it is.

Dying Batteries

The first step is checking the batteries. Even though the recharging is done by the sun, batteries power solar lights while they’re shining. The most common reason for dimming solar lights is that the rechargeable batteries are dying. If the battery is low, it’s important to remove the battery right away. A defunct battery can erode, leak acid, and damage electrical components.

When you replace the battery, be sure to remove the pull tab on the new battery, or it will not work.

Lack of Sunlight

Most solar lights need about six hours of sunlight during the day to recharge. The exact amount of time depends on the intensity of the sun, the efficiency of the solar panel and the battery. If the unit does not get enough light, illumination will not last as long as it should when it gets dark. If you have trees, a building, or something else that prevents sunlight from reaching the solar cell for much of the day, you may have to move it. A solar lamp does not have to be in direct sunlight all day long, but it’s important to let light reach it during most of the daylight hours.

Dirty Panels

If there’s dust and debris on the panels, they simply can not absorb as much light as they should. If the buildup is too severe, the batteries may not change at all. Even a thin layer of dust, however, limits how much sunlight gets through to do the recharging.

A cleaned light panel means an effective light. You can use mild soapy water to remove dirt and make sure the solar panel is clean. Be sure to rinse well and squeeze off any remaining water.

Clouded Plastic

Some solar lights have a plastic housing or protector covering the solar cell. Over time exposure to outdoor conditions and UV damage from sunlight make it clouded, limiting the sunlight that reaches the cell and recharges the battery.

Sometimes this protector is replaceable. If it’s not, you may be able to remove a thin layer of this plastic with a fine-grit sandpaper. Wash the plastic before sanding. Keep the sandpaper and plastic wet while you’re sanding, then wash and dry the surface.

Ensuring Longevity

To ensure the longevity & optimal performance of your solar lights, regular maintenance is key. Beyond the immediate fixes for dimming lights, such as battery replacement or cleaning dirty panels, also consider the environmental impact of your lighting choices. Opting for solar lights is a step towards sustainable living, but maximizing their efficiency through proper placement, regular cleaning, and timely maintenance further reduces your carbon footprint as well. Additionally, by choosing high-quality, durable solar lights and responsibly recycling old batteries, you contribute to a cycle of sustainability that benefits not just your immediate environment but the planet as a whole. Remember, the care you invest in your solar lighting solutions reflects your commitment to environmental stewardship & sustainable living.

Solar Panel Maintenance

Cleaning and Inspection

Regular maintenance of your solar panels is crucial to ensure they perform at their best. Over time, dirt, dust, and debris can accumulate on the surface, reducing their ability to absorb sunlight and generate electricity efficiently. Here are some practical tips for keeping your solar panels in top condition:

• Clean the Panels: Use mild soapy water and a soft-bristled brush to gently remove dirt and debris. Avoid harsh chemicals or abrasive materials that could damage the panels.
• Inspect for Damage: Regularly check the panels for any signs of damage, such as cracks or broken glass. Addressing these issues promptly can prevent further deterioration.
• Check the Mounting System: Ensure that the panels’ mounting system is secure and level. A stable setup maximizes sunlight exposure and efficiency.
• Professional Help: If you’re not comfortable cleaning and inspecting the panels yourself, consider hiring a professional. They have the expertise to perform thorough maintenance and spot potential issues early.

By keeping your solar panels clean and well-maintained, you can ensure they continue to provide reliable electricity for your solar lights, maximizing their efficiency and lifespan.

LED Bulb Quality and Lifespan

Factors Affecting LED Bulb Performance

The performance and lifespan of LED bulbs are critical to the overall effectiveness of your solar lights. Several factors can influence how well these bulbs perform:

• Quality of LED Chips: Poor quality LED light chips can lead to faster light attenuation and reduced brightness. Investing in high-quality chips ensures better performance.
• Heat Dissipation: Inadequate heat dissipation can cause the bulbs to overheat, leading to faster light attenuation. Look for bulbs with good heat dissipation features.
• Driving Current and Voltage: Driving LED lights with constant current or voltage above the rated value can speed up light attenuation. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines to avoid this issue.
• UV Exposure: Ultraviolet rays can degrade the fluorescent powder in LED bulbs, reducing their luminous efficiency. Ensure your bulbs are designed to withstand UV exposure.
• High Driving Current: Using a driving current above the rated value can cause light attenuation. Stick to the recommended current levels to maintain bulb performance.

To ensure your LED bulbs perform optimally and last longer, choose high-quality bulbs with good heat dissipation, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines, and regularly inspect and replace them as needed. This will help maintain the brightness and efficiency of your solar lights, ensuring reliable outdoor lighting.

Olympia Solar Area Lights

Solar power lights are not just a novelty to light up sidewalks and gardens. They’re capable of doing serious work for businesses and municipalities as streetlights. They offer significant advantages over traditional street lamps. The old-style lights cost more to operate, generate more heat, have greater maintenance costs, and are more toxic.

As the world goes greener, solar LED light fixtures will continue to replace the old-fashioned variety. Olympia Lighting is leading the way in solar illumination. We’ve been producing these street lamps for a while, and recently we’ve improved them aesthetically. Solar lamps used to be bulky with large solar cells, but recent models are sleek and attractive. They’re programmable, have dusk-to-dawn sensors, and come in strengths up to 8,000 Lumens. 
Contact Olympia Lighting to learn what these premium quality fixtures can do for you.

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has never been more important than it is now, in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies must go above and beyond to improve indoor air quality and maintain a clean work environment. Luckily, according to the New York Times, there are some questions you can ask about COVID and air quality at work that can help you ensure that your company is doing its best to maintain good COVID indoor air.

5 Questions to Ask About Covid and Air Quality at Work

If you are concerned about your COVID indoor air quality, there are some questions you can ask to ensure you are staying safe for 8+ hours at work. 

1. Can opening the windows improve air quality? 

This question is asked to ensure that a company is providing air that is as clean as possible. Opening the windows as much as possible is one of the top things you can do to improve air quality. This provides fresh air throughout the day and helps to filter out stale air that may be hazardous.

2. What is the ACR Rate? 

Learning the air change rate is one of the best ways to improve the air quality at work. In particular, the air change rate is used to indicate how often the air in indoor air is being replaced with outdoor air. This can help a business determine whether they need to take extra measures to improve the air quality within their company. Given that many experts suggest that the air be replaced 4-6 per hour if your office’s ACR is lower than that, you may need to take certain steps to improve it.

3. Who is monitoring air quality? 

You must also pay close attention to who is monitoring the air quality. A company must decide if an expert should monitor the air quality, or if a carbon dioxide sensor will be used or another type of mechanism, or a mixture of both.

4. How have you improved your air quality? 

No matter how good your air quality may be, companies should be taking steps to improve it. This can involve checking the air quality regularly or installing new equipment.  The more positive improvements that are made will guarantee your air quality is safe and healthy.

5. Are you using UVC Cleaning Systems?

Olympia’s UVC LED Wall Unit and UVC Troffer systems have both been tested and proven to reduce 99.9 percent of airborne viruses, mold, and bacteria. UVC cleaning systems are turning the tide in the current COVID-19 pandemic. A wall-mounted UV light disinfectant continuously delivers a measured dose of high-powered ultraviolet light to disinfect the surrounding environment. 

Takeaways

• Improving your air quality is important to prevent the spread of viruses such as COVID.
• By asking certain questions, you can assess your air quality and make necessary changes.
• Checking the ACR rate and monitoring your air quality can help you improve your air quality.
• Invest in Olympia’s UVC LED Wall Unit and UVC Troffer systems for a 99.9 percent reduction of airborne viruses.

Ready to Improve Your Air Quality?

Olympia Lighting Inc. is a premier LED lighting company located in Northvale, NJ. Offering a variety of energy-efficient LED lighting alternatives to metal halide and high-pressure sodium lamps and fixtures, Olympia Lighting Inc. has become a go-to vendor for all things LED-related. As a member of the International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA), all of Olympia’s products and designs are guaranteed to meet or exceed all American safety standards. Contact us today for a quote and more information.

Whether you manage a stadium that’s large or small, it’s crucial to have lights you can count on. The last thing you’d want is a burnt-out bulb on game day, and having to replace your bulbs often will end up costing you an arm and a leg.

Wondering how much reliable stadium lights cost? Keep reading and learn all about it with this in-depth guide!

Breaking Down the Cost of Stadium Lights

The exact cost of lights will also depend on the size, brand, wattage, and more. Lighting requirements vary from stadium to stadium so you could end up saving thousands of dollars if your venue is on the smaller side of the spectrum. 

To have an accurate idea of the costs involved, it’s also important to factor in the lights themselves, the installation cost, the electricity that powers them, and the maintenance fees. If you only focus on one aspect, then you may end up going way over budget.

Installation Costs

The installation of stadium lights is quite involved and requires professional help from companies like Olympia Lighting, making it the most expensive aspect of investing in lights. Whether you’re installing metal halide lamps or something different, the installation fees can end up being tens of thousands of dollars.

When having stadium lights installed, it’s important to keep in mind that poles alone are not enough. To keep your sports field as safe as possible, you’ll need reinforcements. The heavier the lights are, the more reinforcements you’ll need, and the price for reinforcements alone can turn out to be twice or even three times the cost of the lights. This is why you should opt for stadium lights with lightweight materials like diecast aluminum so that you can save money by having a less extensive reinforcement setup.

Operating Costs

Even with the most energy-saving LED lights, it still costs money to keep them on during games. If you want an accurate budget, then you should factor in the annual cost of running your stadium lights, the type of light, and the wattage.

For example, if you have 20 sessions a month and use field lights that need 72,000 watts of power, then your month-to-month bill could be as high as $1,700. Are you wondering how you can reduce that amount? One of the best ways of saving money is by investing in the most state-of-the-art LED smart bulbs. The reason they cost less to power is due to their efficiency.

To reach the brightness of 72,000 watts, for example, LED stadium lighting would only need a fraction of the energy. This translates to a significant reduction in your monthly electricity bill of up to $500!

Maintenance Costs

With the proper care, stadium lights can last for a decade or longer. For long-lasting LED floodlights, you can expect to get as much as 100,000 hours of light from them before they have to be replaced. However, a lack of maintenance could cause you to replace them sooner than that. So, be sure to clean them, check on the parts, and keep up with maintenance, to allow you to have a well-lit sports facility you can be proud of.

Key Takeaways:

• To have an accurate idea of the costs involved, it’s also important to factor in the lights themselves, the installation cost, the electricity that powers them, and the maintenance fees.
• The installation of stadium lights is quite involved and requires professional help from companies like Olympia Lighting, making it the most expensive aspect of investing in lights.
• With the proper care, stadium lights can last for a decade or longer!

Are You Ready to Get the Best Stadium Lighting Fixtures?

Olympia Lighting is proud to offer our customers only the highest quality stadium lights. Once you try out our smart LED lighting, you’ll never want to go back to those old and unreliable bulbs. We also stock UV lighting and other bulb types. If you have questions, then don’t hesitate to contact us! We’re always happy to talk about our products in detail.

LED lights are having a major impact on the United States and its businesses. By 2035, experts believe that most light installations will be with LED technology. This will have energy savings that could be over 569 TWh, which equals the energy output of over 921,000 MW power plants.

With the various warehouse lighting options available in the marketplace, facilities and their managers are taking note. Not only because of the massive push toward LED lights but also because of the unique benefits they offer, and that cannot be ignored.

If you are not currently riding the LED bandwagon, you should make the switch ASAP. This article will explain why. 

What Makes LED Lights Special?

The source of its light is as small as a fleck of pepper. Meanwhile, it gives light in a variety of colors. Sometimes, it takes red, green, and blue light to make white light.

LED lights emit light in a particular direction. This lessens the need for diffusers and reflectors, which would otherwise trap the light. Therefore, LED lights are more efficient.

Other types of lighting must reflect in their desired direction. Unfortunately, for lights that are not LED, half of the light may never even leave its fixture. 

Cost Savings

While there are different types of lighting you can choose from, not all lighting will cost the same when the energy bill comes. As a business, you want to cut costs where possible, and LED lights are the way to go.

LED lights use less energy, which cuts down power bills.

Energy Savings

Why do LED lights offer your warehouse energy savings? When combined with controls like motor sensors, they reduce energy consumption by 80%.

That is because LED lights only lose 20% of their energy as heat. The remaining 80% of the LED lights convert to light.

Reduce Maintenance

Compared to other types of lights, it is much simpler to maintain LED lights. One reason is their long-life span. They last 50 times longer than conventional types of lights, which is up to 50,000 hours.

Further, LED lights can withstand the harsh environments of a warehouse. This means there will be less need for repairs and replacing broken bulbs. Traditional light bulbs can break because of the heat they produce as they perform their daily function.

With more breaks and more repairs, the cost of maintenance goes up.

When LED lights function, they produce little or no heat, and replacement with LED lights happens minimally. That is because they burn out less.

Warehouse Lighting

Get the highest quality standards for your warehouse lighting from the experts at Olympia Lighting. Our LED lights ensure maximum efficiency and longevity all while offering a competitive price that fits perfectly with your existing commercial fixtures. Get up to 100,000 hours of light, a 10-year manufacturer warranty, and support from a local service, right here in the USA! Contact Olympia Lighting today, and get smart LED lighting for your warehouse.