Solar Powered LED Street Lighting with Digital Control for Dimming operation

Conventional energy sources have been declining rapidly and the consumption of renewable energy sources have increased in recent times. Due to rapid increase in Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology-based lighting, LED based lamps are replacing the High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps in the urban street lighting as they provide greater energy saving. The solar energy-based LED street lighting is presently implemented in urban areas of India. This paper aims to describe the design and implementation of digital controller for solar power-based LED light for street lighting using Arduino. The design of a standalone system ensures optimal battery charging and to control LED for optimal utilization. The system consists of Solar Panel, DC-DC Converters, Charge Controllers, Battery, Sensors and LED Driver. The control of light intensity of LED lamps is possible by using Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) and infrared sensors. The sensors will sense the movement of the objects, illumination in the surroundings and will adjust the brightness of the LED accordingly. A charge controller circuit (buck converter) is used to control the battery charging and intensity of the LED lamps. The street lights are switched on at the dusk and are automatically switched off at dawn by using LDR.