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Solar street lights live or die on their batteries. Every all-in-one or split-type solar street lamp cycles its battery nightly — charge by day, discharge all night, 365 days a year — which makes the battery the most replaced component in the system and a steady B2B procurement category. LiFePO4 has become the standard replacement for the lead-acid and gel batteries originally fitted, and a project staple for new installations across Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. This page maps lamp power to battery configurations, explains what street-light packs must survive, and details wholesale and OEM/ODM sourcing for contractors, distributors, and project developers.
Lamp Power → Battery Map
| Lamp power | Typical 12V LiFePO4 pack | Energy | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20–30W | 12V 20–30Ah (12.8V) | 256–384Wh | Rural roads, pathways, gardens — the highest unit volume |
| 40–60W | 12V 30–40Ah | 384–512Wh | Urban secondary roads, parking lots — the mainstream project size |
| 80–100W | 12V 60Ah+ | 768Wh+ | Main roads, compounds — often split-type with separate battery box |
All packs are 4S LiFePO4 (12.8V nominal, 14.6V charge). Sizing rule of thumb: the battery should carry the lamp through 2–3 consecutive rainy days — size for autonomy days, not just one night.
What Street-Light Packs Must Survive
1. Nightly cycling for years
A street-light battery does a full charge–discharge cycle almost every day. At 365 cycles a year, a lead-acid battery (300–500 cycles) lasts 1–2 years; a LiFePO4 pack (2,000+ cycles) lasts 5+ years. This cycle math — not the unit price — is the procurement argument for projects and the replacement argument for maintenance contractors.
2. Temperature extremes
Battery compartments on poles and in all-in-one fixtures see the full ambient range: −20°C winter nights to 60°C sun-baked enclosures. Specify the operating window explicitly (−20~60°C discharge, 0~45°C charge typical) and low-temperature charging protection for cold regions.
3. Enclosure protection
IP65 is the working standard — rain, dust, and humidity are constant. For in-fixture (all-in-one) designs the pack must also fit the fixture’s battery cavity; for split-type, pole-mount boxes need the right dimensions and cable entries.
4. Controller compatibility
Solar street-light controllers manage charging (PWM/MPPT), dusk-to-dawn switching, and dimming profiles. The battery’s BMS charge parameters must match the controller’s lithium profile — confirm charge voltage and cut-off behavior per project, especially on retrofit jobs reusing existing controllers.
5. Form factor
Two worlds: all-in-one fixtures (battery integrated into the lamp housing — size-constrained) and split-type (separate battery box on the pole — more flexible). Replacement packs must match the original cavity; new projects can standardize on one pack across the installation.
The Two Procurement Channels
- Replacement market: maintenance contractors and distributors replacing failed lead-acid/gel batteries in existing installations. They buy standard 12V 20/30/40Ah packs repeatedly — the same configurations, the same form factors, ongoing. Fast availability of the common sizes wins this channel.
- Project market: contractors, EPCs, and developers building new installations (tens to thousands of lamps). They buy on specification compliance, documentation, delivery schedule, and per-lamp TCO. Standardize the pack across the project to simplify spares.
Wholesale and OEM/ODM
LJY Energy supplies wholesale LiFePO4 batteries for solar street-light applications to contractors, distributors, and project developers — standard 12V configurations for the replacement market and coordinated OEM/ODM builds for fixture-specific packs.
What a quotation confirms, per project: capacity and energy, enclosure dimensions and IP rating, terminal/connector type, BMS protections and charge parameters, operating temperature range, cycle-life rating, applicable certifications and test summaries (UN38.3, MSDS, CE, IEC 62619), MOQ, lead time, and private-label options.
OEM/ODM coordination: for all-in-one fixtures, send the battery cavity dimensions, connector specification, and controller model — we coordinate a fixture-matched pack. Custom housings and BMS firmware are project work, confirmed before the purchase order.
Request a solar street-light battery quotation — include lamp power, quantity, installation region, and whether this is replacement or new project. Our 12V LiFePO4 series covers standard-format requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can LiFePO4 directly replace the lead-acid battery in an existing solar street light?
Usually yes at 12V — but confirm three things: the battery cavity dimensions, the controller’s charge profile (it must have or be set to a lithium profile), and the connector type. The old controller is the most common retrofit failure point.
How do I size the battery for rainy-day autonomy?
Multiply one night’s energy consumption by the required autonomy days (typically 2–3), then divide by 12.8V and the usable depth of discharge (~90% for LiFePO4). When in doubt, send us the lamp power and autonomy requirement — we size it in the quotation.
Do you support project documentation and private label?
Yes — specification sheets, test summaries, and private-label packaging for contractor and distributor programs. Terms are confirmed per project.
Related Battery Solutions & Products
Designing a solar street lighting project? Battery sizing, panel matching and autonomy days are covered on our Solar Energy Storage solutions page, and LJY Energy supplies 12V LiFePO4 packs configured for municipal and off-grid lighting projects. Browse all battery solutions by application and send us your pole height, nightly burn hours and autonomy target for a project quotation.
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