One complaint often heard about outdoor lights is how it attracts insects… like a moth to a flame…
Most insects (butterflies are the exception) are not attracted to sunlight, but rather lower levels of other types of lights. Moths, for example, hunt at night, and use ranges of light other than visible light. Insects use both infrared (heat radiated from objects) as well as Ultraviolet to see at night which gives them a distinct advantage over creatures that don’t have this ability. Even the dreaded mosquito has been known to be attracted to lights (due to the heat and not the light itself).
Unfortunately, man-made light sources (including halogen, incandescent, and fluorescent) traditionally produce light in a broad spectrum, including infrared and ultraviolet, so insects would sense this, and be attracted. Modern light sources such as LED and solar outdoor lights produce a much narrower spectrum of light (primarily in the visible light spectrum), give off less heat and therefore do not attract insects to the same extent.
This bug attraction to outdoor lights is just an annoyance to most, but for Industries installing large outdoor lights for parking lots or remote oilfield locations – this attraction can cause a problem as the lights will typically require more cleaning and maintenance.
No insect swarming is just one of the benefits of solar lights, whether you want to light up a parking lot or street – outdoor solar lighting is an ideal and environmentally friendly lighting solution for any industry. Keep those bugs off and maintenance costs down!
