Having recently made it through the shortest day of the year, Kight Off-Grid, a technology company with a strong research-based background, challenges the claims made by competitors promoting year-round solar-only lighting solutions, especially during winter months. Companies selling off-grid street lighting products are facing scrutiny for unrealistic assertions about the year-round viability of their solar-only products.
Lawrence Fagg, founder and chief engineer at Kight, reveals that even with Kight’s best-in-class technology and tailored long-life batteries, he found that for a solar only product, reliable night-long performance could only be relied upon until early November. As winter sets in, solar energy drops and nights lengthen, off-grid lights in the UK require additional energy input, casting major doubt on the claims of perpetual off-grid solar only lighting functionality. To deal with this issue, and in order to provide night-long, year-round reliable lighting for the UK market, Kight has developed a lighting solution that utilises solar panels in combination with a wind turbine.
Lawrence affirms, “Every component of Kight’s hybrid wind and solar lighting system has been designed to work optimally with the other elements to create a solution that operates reliably in UK weather conditions, year-round. Our best-in-class products are cutting edge and unique, from the dual energy input management system to the ultra-low energy input LED lanterns and the state-of-the-art battery technology designed specifically, and exclusively, for our products.”
Kight recently encountered a case where a customer, enticed by the performance promises of another company’s solar-only products, found the solution ineffective within two weeks of installation due to the challenges posed by winter weather conditions.
Jon Whitbread, CEO of Kight, states, “Some of the claims of our competitors around the back-up capacity of their solar solutions are quite extraordinary. With the very best solar technology, it simply isn’t possible currently to create a solar-only lighting solution capable of providing reliable streetlighting lux levels throughout the night in winter, with three plus days of back-up power in the battery.”
Jon continues, “The biggest issue we have with prospective clients is that many have had appalling experiences with other off-grid lighting products, which make wild promises they don’t come anywhere near being able to meet. Our products do perform, all the time, every time, but prospective customers are understandably wary. The only way we have found to deal with this is to provide prospective clients with two-week free trials, so they can witness first hand the performance of our products. My advice to anyone looking at solutions in this area is twofold: firstly, ignore the hype; and secondly, do not buy any off-grid streetlighting products unless and until they have done a back to back test between Kight’s products and any other options they may be considering.”
Kight’s team of industry experts is dedicated to developing cutting-edge solutions that work reliably in UK conditions throughout the year. Lawrence’s F1 engineering background ensures that Kight has access to the best technology and engineering solutions to produce a high quality, high performance product that is truly fit for purpose and can be relied upon in any conditions. The company has been testing its innovative hybrid wind and solar-powered lighting products over three UK winters and proved their reliability in all weathers, with no need for skilled technical knowledge or back-up power supply to operate the system.
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