The solar lighting industry is a relatively new underdeveloped market. Many manufactures often just throw various incompatible components together (kind of like a Franken-Fixture) and call it a lighting unit. Or you may even find yourself coming across cheap international units from sites that also sell solar dancing flowers (seriously!). Either way there are virtually no companies committed to creating perfectly engineered solar lighting units… until now.

Valen Light has developed the most comprehensive solar lighting line in the world, the eSHINE Series.  The eSHINE Series is the first solar lighting product on the market to seamlessly integrate and conceal the complex elements of a solar lighting system.  It is the first architectural grade product set that can be integrated into various landscape, site, and area lighting plans to provide a complete off-grid solution. Each system is custom-engineered to meet the specific environmental requirements of any given location. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Valen Light manages each aspect of its lighting products’ production in-house, which results in incredibly high quality and long lasting lighting systems.

The Panels
Best-in-class, highly efficient solar panels are specially designed to repel dust, rain and snow while maximizing output.

The Fixtures
The eSHINE Series LED fixture delivers best-in-class efficacy at 130+ lumens/watt.  This allows us to use smaller solar engine configurations while delivering maximum light output.  This lowers the total fixture system cost without compromising reliability or performance. The eSHINE Series is capable of delivering over 15,000 lumens with four to five days of backup power and all night operation.  There are no other solar manufacturers providing this level of performance.  Better performance means lower material costs and faster installation for your project.

The Poles
The eSHINE Solar Pole is specially designed to house all electrical components within the pole base. The eSHINE Solar Pole is offered in five different sizes, each designed to suit a different set of project requirements, fixtures, and locations.

The Batteries
The eSHINE Series is manufactured with proprietary, all-weather batteries, which are the longest lasting batteries on the market and operate reliably at -39 to 159°F. With lifetimes of 7 to 10 years, the system will require little maintenance.
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Valen Light sets the bar for commercial solar lighting, why even consider anything else!

 
Did you know that the Earth has lost a third of its suitable land in the past 40 years. Or that 20% of the Earth's oxygen is produced by the Amazon rainforest. Maybe you even read that the Earth has lost 40% of its wildlife in the past 40 years, according to the WWF. Our precious planet is 4.543 billion years old and only getting older, let's do our best to preserve & secure another 4 billion years.

Here are some ways how:

Conserve Water

• Turn off the faucet while brushing those pearly whites or washing dishes, rinse after
• Don’t use too much running water for your plants, try to store up rain water instead
• Fix any leaky faucets and install water saving devices on faucets or toilets

Recycle

• It takes over a million years for glass to decompose, so don't throw it in the trash
• Recycled paper takes 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution to make
•  If an office building of 7,000 workers recycled all of its office paper waste for a year, it would be the equivalent of taking almost 400 cars off the road 

 Conserve Energy​

• Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when not in use
•  GO SOLAR! Use solar power for home and water heating
• Contractors, architects, community planners push for solar lighting for your next street, security, parking, pathway, signs or monuments projects

“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” — Marshall McLuhan

​Sources:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
​http://space-facts.com/

Solar Roadways (U.S. based company), is developing a solar pavement that will generate electricity and send it to the power grid. Embedded with low power LED guidance lights, these hexagon shaped paving panels will be used to potentially mark roadways and charge electric cars while in transit.

This new tech may begin testing since the Federal Highway Administration has granted a Phase II for development of the prototype back in 2011. Testing will prove difficult with choosing the right glass substance that will prove durable against traction, loads and impact resistance.

Although implementation of these products on major roadways  may never be in this century. Ember LED through Valen Light Manufacturers  currently provides street and roadway solar lighting with our variety of eSHINE products. These commercial grade lighting fixtures are all the innovation you'll need to provide dependable and high grade solar lighting for any application. Even our exclusive Vertaic Bollards can provide the high level of impact resistance developers of these solar roadways are attempting to achieve.

 While solar roadways are decades away from being a reality, Valen Lights eSHINE series for street and roadway lighting is today! You can go straight to our product builder and create the optimal street lighting system for your location today.
 
Source:
www.solarroadways.com
www.cnn.com
www.ens-newswire.com

DO NOTHING

Yep, that's right! After a storm, it is best to just sit tight and wait for the snow to melt. Why, you ask? Well, because solar panels are optimized to face the sun to receive optimum light and snow easily melts off the panels, so there is no cleaning necessary!

GIVE THE SNOW SOMEWHERE TO GO

If happen to live in a snowier climate where piles of snow accumulates for days at a time, it may be worth looking into cleaning below the solar panels with a roof rake so the snow has a place to go after it drops off of the panels. However, under to circumstance is it wise to take a roof rake or metal edge to a solar panels to scrape off of the snow. Doing this risks potential damage to your system, so take caution when deciding use any device to clean around or near your solar panels. 

PLAY TENNIS

Well....sort of. Using a soft, spongy nerf or tennis ball has been said by blogger Christof Demont-Heinrich to be an effective snow removal method. In essence, this tennis match involves bouncing a tennis ball off of solar panels to make the snow shift and shimmy its way off the panel and onto the ground below. Although this sounds like a fun way to remove snow, it can damage solar panels if played too rough, and this method is unlikely to work in areas that accumulates large amounts of snow of over 12 inches. 

USE A 45 DEGREE ANGLE.

We always recommend our panels to be installed at a 45 degree angle for optimal sun exposure. And in cold weather, this angle proves even more beneficial because it allows snow to drop off of the edge of the solar panel and prevents accumulation. If you are located in a particularly cold area that is prone to heavy snow, we recommend no less than a 40 degree angle to ensure optimum performance. 


Other Blog Posts You May Enjoy: 

- 4 Signs It Is Time To Install Solar Lighting
- Where You Should Place Your Solar Panels and Where You Shouldn't
- How To Prevent Your Solar Lighting Systems from Vandals
- 5 Things To Consider Before Going Solar

As we look to more environmentally sustainable ways to travel, such as electric cars and the Hyperloop, solar LED lighting options are becoming an attractive possibility for railway and transit stations. And because trains often run in remote locations that can be challenging to light, Ember LED's eSHINE solar LED and vSHINE LED series can be ideal for such applications. Our fixtures are powerful, weather resistant and maintenance free, offering the best performance in all railroad locations including stations, switches, warehouses, and more. Read on to learn about where solar panels can be placed on railroad and train sites.

​2. The application is off-grid.

The bulk of lighting installation costs comes from the digging, trenching and wiring that must occur to wire electric to a new site. When you install solar lighting, all of those costs are eliminated.  Instead of paying thousands of dollars to contractors and electrical engineers with the hopes of wiring electric to your site, go the solar route. Instead of jumping through hoops and wires, off-grid solar lighting can be easily installed in a matter of hours. For example, Ember LED's eSHINE series comes with eSHINE poles: our all inclusive battery and solar lighting system that comes at 6ft., 10 ft., 15 ft., 20 ft., 25 ft. and 30 ft. levels.  

3. Your business is suffering from high energy bills.

You've heard it before: Solar lighting will save you money on the long-term. Not only will solar lighting make your business more attractive to buyers, tax incentives are available statewide to those who choose to "go green" and light their business using solar powered energy. Not to mention, any energy that you do not use for your business that is connected to the grid is given back to the city, which places extra money directly in your pocket. Isn't that awesome?

4. Because green is the new black. 

​Solar lighting is green, renewable AND cool. As climate change continues to dominate the news and people are looking for more ways to be sustainable, lighting agents and businesses that jump on the socially responsible bandwagon are likely to receive positive feedback from their customers, clients and employees.

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY ENJOY:
- Where You Should Place Your Solar Panels (And Where You Shouldn't)
- 5 Things To Consider Before Going Solar
- 3 Resources for Green Building

Solar LED Lighting can last all night, every night, 365 days each year. Ember LED's solar eSHINE lighting systems designed and manufactured by Valen Light will function in the darkest corners of North America, like Seattle, WA.

But what about those projects that are in forests, tunnels or shaded areas? Can solar work there, too? The answer is yes, and has everything to do with where you place your solar panels!

WHERE YOU CAN PLACE YOUR SOLAR PANELS:

IN THE SUN, or what is often referred to as "open exposure." This means that solar panels must be placed in a location without trees, buildings or large structures blocking the face of the panel from the sun. Moreover, when lighting locations in the Northeast, all panels should have a 45 degree tilt.

In the instance that you need to have lights in shaded areas, such as along wooded path, as long as the solar panels that are connected to your LED fixtures are in a location that that receives complete exposure to light during the peak sun hours of the day and is properly installed, your light is sure to shine bright. The eSHINE Pathway and eSHINE Park fixtures are perfect options for parks projects or walking paths. 


WHERE YOU CAN'T PLACE YOUR SOLAR PANELS:

IN THE SHADE, such as beneath a canopy of trees, beside a large building or blocked by a sign. For projects that are placed in highly shaded locations that do not allow light to pass through, unless there is a gap in the shaded tree area you are trying to light or a sunny side of a building, solar lighting will not work in these areas.