Guided by the experience of the capital, the authorities of the city of Sochi decided to equip the fourteen most complex crossroads of the city with sunny batteries. It is assumed that the economic effect of this event will be achieved by reducing traffic jams in the most complex places of the city that arise due to sudden disconnection of the light.
Traffic lights with solar panels? Is there any savings?
Traffic lights are tender technology, and, in addition, a lot of requirements are attached to their work regarding reliability. But the intersections do not always remain unregulated due to the failure of the equipment.
In the southern cities with a fast -growing population and dense development, electricity shutdowns occur. Therefore, the authorities of some cities take the side of new technologies and establish solar panels on strategic objects.
If we better consider the composition of the solar power plant and the service life of its individual components, then it will be easier to evaluate and calculate the payback of the system. And so, a solar power plant for a traffic light will include:
Sunny panels – work resource from 25 years;
Battery charge controller-work resource of about 10-12 years;
Battery – work resource (for gel) from 4 to 8 years.
Of the main components, only a gel battery is a weak link with a high cost. Therefore, looking for savings at the cost of energy in the installation of “solar traffic lights” is not worth. If you lay a few batteries in the resource of the traffic light, then the payback disappears.
But the savings by reducing road loads, the disappearance of traffic jams and accidents due to the autonomy of the system and its constant stable work – not to evaluate in monetary terms.
Why do you need a charge controller?
You can, of course, try to save on components of a solar power plant. For example, eliminate the charge controller from the list. But then the system will face a lot of problems and will not work out and one year.
Then what is the importance of the battery charge controller?
1. The controller charges the battery with a certain current, depending on its capacity at the time of charge. Thus, it has 4 charges that extend the life of the battery;
2. It prevents the redesign and boiling of the battery, which also positively affects the resource of its work;
3. Increases the effectiveness of the charge due to the function of MPPT;
4. Depending on the modification, the battery level can adjust the level of discharge, thereby reducing the load on the expensive device;
5. It has a function of tracking lighting (some models), which is extremely important for indication signs that should work in the dark. Excludes the need to put a scales sensor for illumination.
To summarize – if you want the system to work and function for a long time, then you can not do without a charge controller.