TEO Solar
Botanical Garden

How to specify solar bollard lighting for public outdoor spaces without trenching or compromising dark sky compliance.

Botanical gardens present two lighting challenges that most outdoor projects never encounter. First, trenching through established root systems is either prohibited outright or restricted to specific zones — making traditional wired bollards impractical across significant portions of the site. Second, light pollution directly affects plant biology, nocturnal pollinators, and increasingly, the environmental permits that govern the garden's operation.

TEO Solar was specified here because it resolved both constraints without compromise.

Why It Worked

• Zero trenching — solar-powered with LiFePO4 battery (12V, 30Ah), fully off-grid from day one
• 4-day battery reserve — essential for northern European climates with consecutive grey days across autumn and winter
• Dark Sky compliant — all light directed downward, zero upward scatter, no impact on nocturnal ecology or plant cycles
• IP65, 304 stainless steel — handles Scandinavian winters, coastal humidity, and sustained wet conditions without maintenance intervention
• 2.5W LED at 90 lm/W, 2700K — warm, efficient light that makes pathways feel considered rather than surveilled
• Customizable finish — white, black, or grey to suit the garden's material language

The Specification Lesson

In any project where infrastructure access is limited — protected heritage sites, existing hardscape, sensitive ecological zones, or simply tight budgets — solar bollards remove the largest friction point in outdoor lighting: the cable. TEO Solar proves that removing that constraint doesn't mean accepting a performance compromise.

Sustainable lighting that doesn't ask you to choose between doing the right thing and doing it well.

Product used: TEO Solar