Why Streetlight Technology Still Matters
Street lighting is one of the most critical — and overlooked — elements of a city’s infrastructure. It affects how people move, how safe they feel, and how much municipalities spend on operations and maintenance. Yet across the U.S., many cities and towns still rely on outdated lighting systems like high-pressure sodium (HPS) or metal halide (MH), which were never designed for today’s urban and sustainability goals.
The technology behind public lighting has changed dramatically in the past two decades. LED lighting has become the new standard for energy efficiency and visibility. But even LED is evolving — and forward-thinking municipalities are now leapfrogging traditional grid-tied LED in favor of solar-powered LED systems.
Fonroche Lighting America is helping cities make that leap. With 365-night reliability, smart monitoring, and zero reliance on the grid, Fonroche’s solar street lighting is redefining what’s possible in public infrastructure.
In this guide, we’ll break down the differences between:
- High-pressure sodium (HPS)
- Metal halide (MH)
- Grid-tied LED
- Off-grid solar LED
By the end, you’ll understand why many cities are choosing solar LED as the most cost-effective, resilient, and future-ready option for modern roadway lighting.
Table of Contents
High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) Lights: A Legacy Technology
Once standard for streets and highways, now on the way out
High-pressure sodium (HPS) street lights were widely adopted by cities in the 1970s and 1980s. Known for their long operational life and relatively low initial cost, HPS fixtures emit a distinct yellow-orange glow that still lines many older highways and industrial corridors.
Performance Profile
- Lifespan: Approximately 24,000 hours
- Color Rendering Index (CRI): 20–30
- Light Color: Yellow-orange spectrum
- Energy Efficiency: Moderate by historical standards; low by modern expectations
Strengths
- Long-lasting compared to older incandescent systems
- Lower upfront cost than many alternatives
- Performs reliably in cold temperatures
- Familiar technology with decades of field data
Limitations
- Poor color rendering makes it difficult to distinguish objects, signage, and people
- High light pollution and glare
- Incompatible with modern lighting controls or smart systems
- Often targeted for replacement due to code compliance or sustainability goals
Common Applications
- Legacy roadways and highways
- Industrial parks and loading zones
- Utility-owned systems in older neighborhoods
How It Compares to Solar LED
HPS systems were once a budget-conscious choice, but their limitations are significant by today’s standards. Compared to solar-powered LED systems from Fonroche Lighting America, HPS fixtures lack visibility, efficiency, and smart functionality. Cities transitioning away from HPS often choose solar LED to gain better lighting quality, long-term savings, and full independence from the electrical grid.
Metal Halide (MH) Lights: Bright but Burdensome
High-intensity lighting with high maintenance costs
Metal halide lights were introduced as a brighter, whiter alternative to high-pressure sodium. Often used in sports venues, parking lots, and some commercial roadways, MH lamps offered improved visibility but came with tradeoffs in energy use and longevity.
Performance Profile
- Lifespan: 15,000 to 20,000 hours
- Color Rendering Index (CRI): 60–90
- Light Color: Bright white, sometimes with a blue tint
- Energy Efficiency: Moderate; less efficient than LED
Strengths
- Higher CRI and better visibility than HPS
- Strong vertical illumination — good for signs, buildings, and objects
- Useful in areas requiring intense brightness
Limitations
- Shorter lifespan than HPS or LED
- Long warm-up and restrike times
- High maintenance frequency and lamp replacement costs
- Poor performance in cold environments
- Not compatible with smart controls
Common Applications
- Stadiums and sports complexes
- Commercial parking lots
- Older industrial streets or business parks
How It Compares to Solar LED
Metal halide may deliver brightness, but it falls short in every other metric that matters for municipal infrastructure — lifespan, efficiency, maintenance, and adaptability. Fonroche solar LED systems provide consistent brightness, smart monitoring, and full off-grid performance with zero maintenance — making them a smarter choice for modern urban and suburban applications.
LED Street Lights: Today’s Retrofit Standard
Efficient, high-performance — but still tied to the grid
LED (Light Emitting Diode) streetlights have become the default replacement for outdated HPS and metal halide systems. Known for their energy efficiency, long lifespan, and excellent visibility, grid-tied LEDs are widely used in cities across the U.S.
They offer a major step forward in lighting performance — but still come with infrastructure dependencies that can slow down projects and increase long-term costs.
Performance Profile
- Lifespan: 50,000 to 100,000 hours
- Color Rendering Index (CRI): 80–90
- Light Color: Available in various CCTs (e.g., 3000K, 4000K, 5000K)
- Energy Efficiency: High (100–200+ lumens per watt)
Strengths
- Excellent visibility and color rendering
- Long operational life reduces relamping costs
- Compatible with optics and adaptive lighting controls
- Available in a wide range of beam angles and color temperatures
- Often qualifies for utility rebates
Limitations
- Requires trenching, cabling, and grid connection
- Utility rate exposure increases lifecycle cost
- Susceptible to outages and grid disruptions
- Underground utility conflicts can delay permitting and construction
- Still requires drivers and routine maintenance over time
Common Applications
- Downtown streetscapes
- Collector streets and intersections
- Municipal and DOT retrofit programs
How It Compares to Solar LED
Grid-tied LED lights offer strong performance — but Fonroche solar LED systems provide the same lighting quality with none of the trenching, wiring, or utility dependency. For cities seeking resilience, fast deployment, and low total cost of ownership, solar is the next evolution of LED.
Solar LED: The Evolution of Street Lighting
All the performance of LED — with none of the grid limitations
While LED streetlights revolutionized lighting efficiency, solar-powered LED systems are transforming how cities approach infrastructure itself. By removing the need for trenching, grid connection, and ongoing utility costs, solar LED delivers all the benefits of modern lighting — plus complete energy independence.
Fonroche Lighting America has redefined solar street lighting with innovations like Power 365®, ensuring year-round reliability, and Fonroche Connect, enabling remote monitoring and performance optimization.
Performance Profile
- Lifespan: LED 50,000–100,000 hrs; battery system 10+ years
- CRI: 70–90, tunable
- Light Output: Equal to grid-tied LED (100–200+ lumens per watt)
- Energy Source: Photovoltaic panels + battery storage (365-night performance)
Strengths
- Zero trenching, cabling, or grid coordination
- Not affected by utility outages or rate hikes
- Maintenance-free sealed batteries (no annual battery swaps)
- Remote monitoring and smart control with Fonroche Connect
- Qualifies for federal, DOT, tribal, and sustainability funding
- Rapid deployment (installations often completed in under a day)
Limitations
- Slightly higher initial investment (offset by lower total cost of ownership)
- Requires appropriate site design and solar exposure
- Still misunderstood by some municipalities unfamiliar with today’s performance levels
Common Applications
- Rural roads and intersections
- Tribal and federal lands
- Vision Zero and Safe Streets programs
- Urban infill, resilience zones, equity-focused districts
- Temporary or emergency infrastructure deployments
Why It’s the Next Step
Solar LED systems are not an alternative to LED — they are LED, just smarter, more resilient, and infrastructure-free. Fonroche’s systems deliver full performance lighting while eliminating the trenching, grid delays, and maintenance burden that slow down traditional projects.
For municipalities facing tight budgets, aggressive timelines, and climate targets, solar-powered LED from Fonroche is the forward-looking solution.
How Today’s Street Lighting Technologies Compare
A side-by-side breakdown of cost, performance, and long-term value
Understanding the differences between street lighting technologies is essential for cities evaluating upgrades or replacements. This comparison outlines how high-pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) stack up against grid-tied LED and Fonroche’s solar-powered LED systems.
| Feature | HPS | Metal Halide | Grid-Tied LED | Solar LED (Fonroche) |
| Lifespan (hrs) | ~24,000 | 15,000–20,000 | 50,000–100,000 | 50,000–100,000 + Power 365® |
| Color Rendering (CRI) | 20–30 | 60–90 | 80–90 | 70–90 |
| Energy Efficiency | Low | Low | High | High |
| Maintenance Needs | Moderate | High | Low | Very low |
| Smart Capable | No | No | Yes | Yes (Fonroche Connect) |
| Trenching Required | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Outage Risk | Yes (grid failure) | Yes (grid failure) | Yes (grid failure) | No (off-grid resilience) |
| Sustainability | Low | Low | Moderate to High | High (zero emissions, no grid) |
| Typical Use Cases | Legacy roads | Stadiums, lots | Urban arterials | Rural/urban roads, intersections |
Learn More about all of the Main Types of Street Lights.
Why More Cities Are Skipping Grid LED and Going Solar
Smarter lighting starts with a smarter system design
For years, grid-tied LED was the natural replacement for outdated HPS and metal halide streetlights. But as infrastructure demands evolve, so do the expectations placed on public lighting systems.
Today’s cities are looking for solutions that go beyond visibility and efficiency — they want systems that improve resilience, reduce long-term costs, and align with climate and equity goals. That’s why more municipalities are going directly to solar-powered LED systems as their first choice, not a future upgrade.
What’s Driving the Shift?
- Avoiding Trenching and Utility Delays: Traditional LED requires underground wiring, which adds cost, permitting complexity, and timeline risk. Fonroche solar LED installs in hours — without disrupting existing infrastructure.
- Resilience Against Outages: Grid-tied systems fail during power loss. Fonroche solar LED systems operate off-grid and stay on when communities need them most.
- Alignment with Climate Goals: Net-zero plans, energy independence, and emissions reductions are all supported by solar systems that require no electricity from fossil fuel grids.
- Lower Long-Term Costs: While grid-tied LEDs lower energy use, they still incur monthly utility bills. With solar, there are no electric bills — and virtually no maintenance for over a decade.
- Infrastructure Funding Eligibility: Fonroche systems qualify for IRA, DOT Safe Streets, and Tribal Infrastructure programs, helping cities modernize without overextending their budgets.
Whether you’re managing a citywide lighting upgrade or trying to reach sustainability benchmarks, solar LED lighting isn’t a compromise — it’s an upgrade that eliminates trenching, reduces costs, and outperforms the grid.
Conclusion: The Technology Is LED — The Future Is Solar
Lighting that performs better, costs less, and builds stronger communities
Municipal leaders face real pressure to deliver better infrastructure with fewer resources. Street lighting — a basic but essential service — must now support public safety, energy resilience, climate mandates, and equity. Simply swapping legacy fixtures for grid-tied LED may offer short-term gains, but it leaves cities exposed to utility dependence, trenching costs, and long-term limitations.
Solar-powered LED lighting delivers everything grid-tied LED offers — and more.
With zero trenching, 365-night reliability, remote monitoring, and no ongoing utility costs, Fonroche Lighting America provides cities with lighting that’s smarter, faster to deploy, and built for the challenges of tomorrow.
Cities that once thought of solar as a niche solution are now embracing it as the gold standard — for intersections, roadways, rural corridors, and community-wide upgrades.
Why Choose Fonroche Lighting America?
- Proven in 40+ countries and across the U.S.
- Powered by Power 365® technology for full-year performance
- Remotely managed via Fonroche Connect
- Fully off-grid and maintenance-free for over a decade
- Eligible for federal, DOT, and tribal infrastructure funding
Whether you’re replacing legacy fixtures or reimagining your city’s streetscape, solar LED from Fonroche isn’t just the future of lighting — it’s the right choice now. Talk to a Solar Lighting Expert Today
Learn how we support safe, sustainable, and cost-effective lighting across every environment on our Street and Roadway Lighting page.