Case Study: Mira Bella achieves IoT-managed, off-grid bifacial solar street lighting with Digi International

The Internet of Things Powering A New Way to Light Streets with Bifacial Solar Panels

Mira Bella Energy, founded by James Meringer, turned a surge in solar projects into an opportunity to rethink street lighting. The team adapted bifacial solar panels—which harvest light from both sides—into vertically mounted, wind-tolerant “fin” panels with integrated lithium‑ion battery stacks, addressing the usual tradeoff between form and function in solar street lights and reducing maintenance issues like bird fouling.

To make the lights smart and scalable, each pole combines Digi XBee RF modules, a ConnectPort gateway and Digi Remote Manager for cloud-based monitoring and control. The system enables motion detection, dimming, battery and harvest monitoring, and hybrid or fully off-grid operation; it’s now in a Santa Cruz Green Wharf pilot, with batteries rated ~3,000 cycles (~8 years) and clear applications for municipalities and campuses.

Mira Bella

James Meringer

Founder