A smart street lighting system using solar energy

This paper demonstrates a prototype for a smart street-lighting system, in which a number of DC street lights are powered by a photovoltaic (PV) source. A battery is added to store the excess energy of the solar panel, which can later be retrieved at night time, or whenever the sunlight is being obstructed by clouds or other forms of shading. A charge controller is used to protect the battery from overcharging and to control the overall system operation. Furthermore, the system is expanded to include a motion sensing circuit, and a dust-cleaning circuit. The overall result is a smart and efficient street lighting system, which can be implemented as a standalone off-grid system, or connected to the rest of the grid as part of a bigger system.