MINGHUI WANG
SOLTECH · B2B IOT · 2024–NOW
Soltech’s solar street lights run off the grid, so nobody could see whether they worked. I designed the platform that lets a customer install them in an afternoon, watch every lamp from a browser, and get failures fixed before a resident has to complain.
ROLE
Product Designer
SCOPE
Web console, installer app, technician app, design system
TIMELINE
Aug 2024 – now
STATUS
V1 shipped
V2 redesign concept (shown here)
The problem and the idea in 28 seconds.
THE PROBLEM
No grid wiring means no data line. Before this platform, a lamp was a closed box on a pole.
INVISIBLE
Owners can’t see if lamps work, or what they save
They paid for solar to cut electricity costs and had no way to show it.
FOUND BY COMPLAINT
Failures surface when a resident calls
Then a crew drives out at night and checks poles by hand with a remote.
SLOW INSTALLS
V1 had installers scan every lamp’s QR code
One scan per lamp, often on a ladder. On a 50-lamp street that wears a crew out.
WHO IT’S FOR
The owner
A property group or city. Wants proof of savings and to hear about problems before the public does. Uses the web console.
The install crew
Mounts poles in a day. Needs a flow that works with gloves, in the sun, on a phone. Uses the installer app.
The Soltech technician
Fixes what the console flags. Needs the diagnosis, the parts list and the exact pole before driving out. Uses the technician app.
HOW IT’S ORGANIZED
I built every screen on one hierarchy that matches how lights are actually installed: a street is a project, a gateway covers a stretch of it, and lamps report through the gateway nearest them.
PROJECT
San Pablo Ave Pedestrian Lighting
Emeryville · 50 × HYPER 45W · Night Owl
GATEWAY G-01
40th St – 43rd St
28 lamps
SP-12 low battery
GATEWAY G-02
43rd St – 45th St
22 lamps
SP-37 offline
KEY DECISIONS
Each clip is the real V2 prototype, recorded click by click.
01 · INSTALL
The crew scans one gateway. Each lamp joins on its own as it’s powered on with the remote, and the owner watches the count climb in the console.
V1
One QR scan per lamp. 50 lamps, 50 scans.
V2
One scan per gateway. The same street takes 2.
02 · HOME
Owners bought solar to cut electricity costs, so home is a savings report, not a device table. Each project counts from its own install date, so the number holds up when finance asks.
03 · MONITOR
Problems show in red on a real map before you open anything. “Preview tonight” plays back how each lamp will dim. When SP-12’s battery runs low, the console explains why and offers one fix that undoes itself after three nights.
BEFORE
A low-battery warning and a list of settings to figure out.
AFTER
“Switch to Motion 20–80% for 3 nights.” One click, confirmed by the lamp.
04 · REPAIR
The console runs the remote’s checks automatically and names the likely part. The service request fills itself in. The technician checks in on site, runs the test from the phone, and the request stays open until the lamp lights at sunset with normal power draw.
USUAL
“Marked fixed” by a person closes the ticket.
V2
The lamp’s own reading closes it. If it stays dark, it reopens.
GROUNDED IN THE HARDWARE
I read Soltech’s remote control guide and spec sheets before drawing anything. The console offers exactly what the SATELIS, HYPER and HYBRID lamps can do, under the same names crews already use.
On / Off
Manual switch
Test
Green = operating, red = charging only
Motion 20–80%
Default · dim until someone passes
Motion 40–100%
Brighter base for busy areas
Night Owl
Bright evening, 20% after midnight
Early Bird
Dim at night, bright before dawn
Constant 100 / 70 / 40
Fixed output all night
Timer 4 h / 8 h
Or disabled for dusk to dawn
SATELIS 75W
HYPER 45W
HYBRID 45W
FULL WALKTHROUGH
Recorded from the interactive V2 prototype. All customer data is fictional: Eric Wang and Emeryville Avenue Partners are a demo account.
HOW I’D MEASURE V2
INSTALL
Minutes per lamp on install day
V1 baseline vs gateway scanning. [ADD V1 BASELINE]
DETECTION
Hours from failure to alert
Against the days it took for a complaint to arrive. [ADD IF KNOWN]
REPAIR
Requests fixed on the first visit
Diagnosis and parts list sent before the truck rolls.
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