Case study May 2026
Moreno Valley, California
Navigating a remote location and sensitive landscape, Moreno Valley turned to solar lighting to keep Hound Town Dog Park safe and accessible after dark.
A popular place for pups and people
About 70 miles east of Los Angeles, the City of Moreno Valley sits where the dense development of the Inland Empire starts to give way to rolling hills and scrubland. At the edge of town, down a dirt road surrounded by open landscape, Hound Town Dog Park gives residents a place to bring their dogs to run, play, and socialize.
But the park’s remote location also made lighting difficult to implement. Extending grid power to the site would have required extensive trenching for underground wiring, increasing both project costs and disruption to the sensitive landscape.
Getting light without the grid
For years, Hound Town had no lighting, effectively closing at sundown and limiting access during the cooler early morning and evening hours when the park was most comfortable to visit. As Moreno Valley grew, and more residents looked to Hound Town as a place to exercise their dogs, the lack of lighting became a clear barrier to broader access.
When the City began exploring ways to extend the park’s hours, solar quickly emerged as the most practical approach. Working alongside local lighting agent South Coast Lighting, Sol helped evaluate the site and develop a lighting plan tailored to the park’s layout and community needs. A photometric study confirmed fixture placement, light levels, and overall system performance across the 3.5-acre park.
The team selected eight iSSL Maxi 4 Road solar lighting systems, positioned around the perimeter of the park. With solar panels, batteries, controller, and fixture all integrated in an all-in-one design, the systems were straightforward to install and required no assembly or additional wiring.
The Maxi 4 Road’s integrated LED module shines at an angle from the edge of the enclosure, making it well suited for a perimeter installation. Rather than lighting from the center of the park outward (causing light spill and wasted energy) the systems direct illumination onto the fenced dog runs, obstacles, and seating areas.
Accessible, safe, and cool
With solar lighting in place, Hound Town can now remain active beyond daylight hours. Residents have more flexibility to use the park early in the morning or later in the evening, when temperatures are lower and the experience is more comfortable.
For Moreno Valley, the project shows how solar lighting can help communities improve existing public spaces without extending the grid or impacting the landscape. In a remote park where wired power would have added significant cost, solar lighting offered a simple way to make a valued local amenity safer, more accessible, and more usable year-round.
