Solar Lighting for Car Parks and Ports

Solar lighting for car parks and ports comes down to three problems: area to cover, salt in the air and a client who wants the lighting to pay for itself. The answer is a high-output luminaire on a 10 to 15 m mast, a wide asymmetric optic that reaches the far row without spilling into the neighbours, C5-M corrosion protection on coastal sites, and microwave sensing that drops the luminaire to a low baseline between arrivals. Sized that way a 150 W all-in-one can carry a 30-metre span without a single metre of cable.

High mast, wide throw

At 12 to 15 m one luminaire reaches the far row and the aisles between, which is what removes the dark band that a 6 m pole leaves in the middle of a yard.

Salt-spray corrosion

Within a kilometre of the sea the housing, the fasteners and the cable glands all have to be specified for it, not just painted for it. We quote C5-M coating and 316 stainless as standard on coastal yards.

Sensing instead of full output

A car park is empty most of the night. Microwave sensing holds the luminaire at a low baseline and returns it to full output on approach, which cuts energy without ever leaving a guest in the dark.

Corrosion class decides the housing

ISO 12944 categories are the honest way to specify a coastal site: the distance to the sea and the time of wetness decide the class, and the class decides what the housing is made of and how it is fastened.

Class	Environment	What we specify
C3	Urban and inland, low salt	Die-cast aluminium, polyester powder coat
C4	Coastal, 1 to 10 km from the sea	C4 coating, stainless fasteners
C5-M	Marine, under 1 km, salt spray	C5-M coating, 316 stainless, sealed glands
CX	Splash zone on a quay	IP67, 316 stainless, remote driver

Painting a standard housing for a marine site is not corrosion protection. It is a warranty claim scheduled for year three.

How a yard is laid out

The mast height, the optic and the row spacing move together. Raise the mast and one luminaire covers more, but the uniformity between masts drops; widen the optic and the far row lights up while the neighbours get spill. The table is the starting point we check against a simulation.

Layout	Mast height	Luminaire	Coverage per unit
Car park, two rows facing	8–10 m	80–120 W	About 700 m²
Logistics yard, trailer parking	12–15 m	150–200 W	About 1,800 m²
Quay apron, container handling	15–18 m	200 W and up	About 2,500 m²

300 W road luminaires installed at Claro Arena

Claro Arena: 300 W road luminaires over a large open surface, aimed to keep light inside the site.

Questions from facility and port operators

Does sensing work with a mast at 15 m?+

Microwave sensing at that height covers a wide cone and detects vehicles and people before they enter the lit area, which is the point: the luminaire is already at full output when they arrive rather than warming up.

How long does a C5-M coating last?+

ISO 12944 puts C5-M at high durability, which is 15 to 25 years for the coating system, provided the surface preparation is done properly. What fails first on a quay is usually the fastener, not the paint, which is why we specify 316 stainless throughout.

Can solar carry a yard that works 24 hours?+

Not on its own. A yard with continuous night operations needs a grid or generator supply, and we will quote a high-mast LED instead. Solar fits yards with an evening peak and a quiet second half of the night.