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Sol Solar Outdoor Lighting Coming to a Street Corner Near You

For over 21 years Sol has been providing solar lighting solutions to commercial developers, government programs and military installations. And according to Paul Wickberg, president and CEO of Sol, the company is well positioned to explode into the commercial market place.

Wickberg explained that over the last two decades Sol has heavily invested in improving solar outdoor lighting and now the technology has reached a level where it is cost competitive with conventional outdoor lighting systems. And it offers the added advantage of eliminating utility costs and improving the environmental sustainability of the project it is installed in.

He went on to say that he believes Sol is within two years of putting solar powered lighting on the street corners of many major American cities and the parking lots of its biggest businesses.
To find more about how Sol is working to change the solar lighting landscape read this Q&A with Wickberg.

What is Sol’s background?
It is hard to believe but Sol was founded 21 years ago. Our goal then was to provide the world with lighting solutions that were not dependent on any kind of utility infrastructure. Since then we have grown in baby steps as the technology for solar lighting has became increasingly commercially viable and investors realized that there was good money to be made with this opportunity.

We began by focusing on installing lights in places where it is difficult to bring utility-tied electricity such as Africa, Latin America, India and isolated military bases. However, this trend began to change once LED lights hit the industry and they became a complete game changer. We were able to develop lights using LEDs that drastically increase their energy output and improved their battery life. This lead to our business really beginning to take off.

We started growing at a rate of 30 to 35 percent a year. Then two years ago the cost per watt of photovoltaic panels began to go down dramatically. When you combine both of those factors you get a product that can be installed in a commercial project for the same cost as a grid-tied lighting project.

With the added bonus we remove all of the costs of integrating the lighting system into the power infrastructure and there are no costs for the power itself.

We have installed lights in over 50 countries. Our biggest markets are in Africa. And we do a lot of pro bono work in places such as Haiti, like after the earthquake and Japan after the tsunami.

What products and services does Sol offer?
Sol manufactures and sells solar lighting solutions for advertising, parking lots, pathways and trails, security perimeters, recreational shelters, roadways and transit shelters.

How does Sol differentiate itself from its competition?
To differentiate ourselves from other solar manufacturers we design our system from the ground up to be aesthetically pleasing. We use a streamlined sort of look similar to an iPod.

This helps separate us from an industry that has historically put function over form. Another feature we offer our customers is that we have optimized our batteries so they can connect to the internet to track their power levels. By monitoring these power levels we can extend their guaranteed lifespan up to 10 years.

What are Sol’s biggest challenges?
Our biggest challenge is creating awareness in the commercial market. In the United States we primarily sell to parks and recreation departments and the Department of Defense. 

We need to educate our customer base that solar lighting is not the same as it was five years ago. LED technology has changed everything. Today, our lights can operate for five years from dusk to dawn, regardless of weather, without needing to be recharged.

When I first started talking to companies in the retail space they were completely surprised we could offer efficient, cost-effective solar lighting.

We need to get out and educate our customers that the solar lights of today are not the ones of five years ago. LED technology has changed everything.

Customers always ask us “what do we do if it is cloudy?” The reality is that it does not affect the lights at all. That problem was solved over 10 years ago.

What is planned for Sol’s future?
Our plans for the near future are to start growing into municipal markets and cities in the United States, especially Texas. It is a perfect application for solar lighting because it means cities do not have to tear up their infrastructure to install them. We think you are going to see solar lighting on every street corner and in the parking lots of major businesses soon.