Panasonic and SANYO announced the launch of the EVERLEDS Lithium-ion Solar Street Light, a solar street light with a refined design combining "solar cells" and "lithium-ion batteries." Two versions of the street light will be released by Panasonic in January 2011 in Japan.
The Lithium-ion Solar Street Lights are thin and have a refined design featuring an integrated solar cells and storage unit incorporating solar cells and lithium-ion batteries. The lithium-ion batteries are set on the underside of the solar cells. The Lithium-ion Solar Street Light is nearly half the weight of previous lead battery models and has a thickness of only 40mm.
The Lithium-ion solar street light received the Good Design Award 2010 from Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization.
The product is equipped with SANYO's HIT solar cells, single crystal hybrid type solar cells with the highest-class conversion efficiency in the world, and a thin 'integrated solar cells and storage unit' using SANYO's lithium-ion batteries. In the product, electricity is generated from solar energy by the high efficiency solar cells and stored in the lithium-ion batteries attached to the back of the panel. This can then be used to power the high efficiency LED lights for approximately 15 hours during the night.