Green Frog Systems Helps Shape New IPWEA Model Solar Lighting Specification — Giving Councils the Confidence to Go Solar

A significant milestone for solar lighting in Australia and New Zealand

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) has released its new Model Solar Lighting Specification through the Street Lighting & Smart Controls (SLSC) Program — and Green Frog Systems is proud to have been a contributor helping shape this fundamental document.

Developed in collaboration with industry experts, suppliers and consultants, the specification is a free, Word-based procurement tool that gives councils, road authorities, government agencies, funders and advisors a robust, technically current framework for buying solar lighting with confidence.

You can download the specification directly from IPWEA here: SLSC Model Solar Lighting Specification. 

Why this specification matters

As power prices continue to climb and grid-connection becomes more expensive, solar is attractive for an increasing number of applications.

At the same time, solar LED lighting has undergone dramatic transformation in recent years:

• Highly energy-efficient LEDs have markedly reduced energy consumption.
• Improved battery technologies have enhanced autonomy and reliability.
• The emergence of intelligent battery management systems, connected smart controls and motion sensors is further reducing energy consumption while enhancing capability and safety.
• For projects at lower lighting levels, the integration of these elements into packaged solar lighting products is eliminating the need for custom engineering — resulting in much less costly solar deployments.

Despite these advances, one thing has held many councils back: hesitation about buying something they don’t fully understand. With no single, trusted reference document, procurement teams have often been left to compare apples to oranges — and quality suppliers have been forced to compete against low-cost, under-specified alternatives.

That’s exactly the gap this new specification closes.

What the Model Solar Lighting Specification does

The SLSC Model Solar Lighting Specification, developed with industry experts and suppliers, will help you confidently procure solar lighting. A robust model specification can:

• Raise overall confidence levels amongst customers
• Speed up the procurement process
• Lower the costs of procurement
• Help ensure that quality lighting projects get delivered

Essentially, this standard shows councils how to buy solar lighting with confidence — and gives them a clear, objective way to vet suppliers more effectively.

The aim of the model specification is to be technically robust and current, compatible with AS/NZS standards, written in easy-to-understand language, applicable to both large and small projects across urban and rural applications, and freely available to reduce barriers to solar LED uptake.

What it means for councils and local government

For decision-makers in local government, the release of this specification is a genuine turning point. It means:

• Confidence in overcoming hesitation about specifying a technology that has evolved rapidly.
• A trusted framework to write into tenders — one that reflects current battery, LED, smart control and sensor technology.
• A clear way to vet suppliers, weed out under-engineered product, and reward quality.
• A faster path to procurement with lower tendering costs on both sides of the transaction.

The bigger picture? By giving procurement teams a document they can trust, the specification opens the door to further uptake of solar technology — supporting cleaner, safer, more resilient communities right across Australia and New Zealand.

Green Frog Systems’ role

As one of Australia’s most trusted solar lighting manufacturers, Green Frog Systems was invited to contribute to the drafting process alongside other industry experts, suppliers and consultants coordinated by IPWEA’s Emerging Technology Adviser, Graham Mawer.

Our involvement reflected a long-standing belief within our team: quality solar lighting projects only get delivered when specifications are written properly. Having contributed real-world engineering knowledge from more than a decade of solar street, pathway, roadway and public-space deployments across Australia and overseas, we’re proud to have helped shape a document that will benefit the entire industry.

Green Frog Systems is proud to be a contributor in helping shape this fundamental document.

What’s next

IPWEA has confirmed that the specification will be revised and reissued once the parallel Standards Australia process for a Technical Specification for manufacturers is complete.

IPWEA will also be holding a dedicated solar lighting webinar on 12 November, which is a great opportunity for councils and specifiers to hear directly from the experts who worked on the document. 👉 Register for the webinar.

If you’re a council, road authority or specifier looking to apply the new Model Solar Lighting Specification to an upcoming project, the Green Frog Systems team is here to help you interpret it, apply it, and design a compliant, high-performance solution.

👉 Download the specification 👉 Talk to our team about your next solar lighting project.