This is the story of a LEADRAY solar monitoring street light project in South Africa, where lighting and security go hand in hand.

The challenge: dark roads and a real security problem

The project site is a remote farming and community area. Like many places in the country, it faces two problems at the same time. First, the local roads and yards have no reliable grid power, so night lighting was basically impossible with normal street lights. Second, theft and break-ins were a constant worry. Once the sun went down, the whole area went dark, and it became very easy for intruders to move around without being seen.

The client did not just want light. They wanted light and security together: bright illumination at night, plus a camera watching the road and the yard 24/7 — all powered by the sun, with no electricity bills.

The solution: solar street lights with a built-in CCTV camera

Our answer was the solar monitoring street light. It combines everything in one smart unit:

• A high-efficiency monocrystalline solar panel that charges the system during the day.
• A bright LED light source that lights up the road at night.
• A PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) dome CCTV camera built right into the unit, watching the area around the pole.
• A large built-in LiFePO4 battery that keeps both the light and the camera running through the night and even on cloudy days.

We offer this system in two versions. The all-in-one solar monitoring light keeps the panel, lamp and camera in a single head — compact and quick to install. The split type puts the solar panel and the light/camera unit separately, which gives more freedom when the pole or wall space is limited. Both versions come with remote control, so brightness, working mode and camera settings can be adjusted on site or from a distance.

Built for real outdoor conditions

Take our 100W model as an example: a 100W monocrystalline solar panel, a 3.2V 200Ah LiFePO4 battery, and an 80W-class LED delivering about 8000 lumens of light. It charges in just 3-4 hours of good sunshine and runs for at least 12 hours at night, with intelligent power control to stretch the battery even further. The recommended installation height is 8-10 meters with 40-50 meters between lights, which is plenty for road coverage. The IP65 waterproof housing handles rain, dust and humidity up to 90% - exactly the kind of weather this region sees.

The result on the ground

Once installed, the change was immediate. The roads and yards are now bright every single night, so residents move around safely and no longer feel locked inside after sunset. And the built-in camera does the real security work: it records activity around the pole day and night, and the simple presence of the camera has already cut theft attempts in the area. When something does happen, the recorded footage gives the owner and the local police clear evidence.

For the client, the biggest win is the cost: no grid connection, no digging, no monthly electricity bill, and very little maintenance. The sun does the work, and the camera never sleeps.

Why project teams choose LEADRAY

As a professional solar lighting manufacturer, LEADRAY designs and produces solar monitoring street lights all-in-one and split versions for farms, remote roads, warehouses, parking lots and community areas across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. We control production in our own factory and support project orders with full certification documents and after-sales support.

If your site needs lighting and security in one solution, talk to us. We will help you pick the right model and light it up safely.