Well-lit parking lots and building exteriors are not optional for commercial properties -- they are a safety requirement, a liability shield, and a customer expectation. Dark or poorly lit parking areas create slip-and-fall hazards, increase vehicle break-in risk, and make customers uncomfortable visiting your business after dark. For property owners and managers in Aiken, SC, maintaining proper exterior lighting is both a legal obligation and a business necessity.
Unity Power & Light designs, installs, and maintains commercial parking lot and exterior lighting systems throughout Aiken and surrounding areas. Whether you need a complete new lighting layout for a recently paved lot, an LED upgrade of existing pole-mounted fixtures, or ongoing maintenance to keep every light burning, we deliver reliable, code-compliant lighting that protects your property and your customers.
What We Do
From new parking lot construction to maintenance of existing systems, we handle every aspect of commercial exterior lighting.
Pole-Mounted LED Fixtures
Installation and replacement of LED shoebox fixtures on existing or new light poles. We select fixtures with the correct wattage, distribution pattern, and mounting height to achieve uniform coverage across your parking area while minimizing light trespass onto neighboring properties.
Parking Lot Lighting Design
For new lots or complete relighting projects, we create a photometric plan that maps light levels across the entire parking surface. This ensures every area meets minimum foot-candle requirements for safety and code compliance while avoiding over-lighting that wastes energy and creates glare.
Photocell & Timer Controls
Automatic lighting controls that turn fixtures on at dusk and off at dawn, or on a programmed schedule tied to your business hours. Photocell controls eliminate the need for manual switching and ensure lights operate whenever natural light is insufficient. We also install astronomical timers for seasonal adjustment.
Building Security Lighting
Wall-mounted LED fixtures, flood lights, and area lights that illuminate building perimeters, loading docks, dumpster areas, and service entrances. Proper security lighting deters criminal activity and reduces premises liability. We position fixtures to eliminate dark spots where intruders could hide.
HID-to-LED Conversion
Replacing older metal halide, high-pressure sodium, or mercury vapor pole lights with LED equivalents. LED fixtures deliver instant-on capability (no warm-up delay), better color rendering for security cameras, 60-70% energy savings, and a lifespan of 100,000+ hours compared to 20,000 for typical HID lamps.
Ongoing Maintenance Programs
Scheduled maintenance visits to inspect fixtures, clean lenses, check wiring connections, test photocells and timers, and replace any failing components before they leave areas of your lot in the dark. Regular maintenance prevents the gradual deterioration that leads to safety complaints and code violations.
Our Installation Process
Site Survey & Code Review
We survey your property, measure the parking area, identify existing electrical infrastructure, and review applicable lighting codes. Aiken and South Carolina building codes specify minimum light levels for commercial parking areas. We also check for local ordinances regarding light pollution, fixture cutoff requirements, and operating hours.
Photometric Design
Using professional lighting design software, we create a photometric plan that shows predicted light levels at every point in your parking lot. This plan specifies pole locations, fixture types, mounting heights, and aiming angles. You see exactly what the finished result will look like before we begin installation.
Installation & Wiring
We install light poles (or work with existing poles), mount LED fixtures, run underground conduit and wiring to the electrical service, install photocell and timer controls, and connect everything to a dedicated lighting circuit in your electrical panel. All underground wiring is installed at code-required depth with proper conduit protection.
Testing & Verification
After dark, we take foot-candle readings across the entire parking surface to verify the installation meets design specifications and code minimums. We test all controls for proper automatic operation. We provide you with a commissioning report documenting measured light levels for your records and any future code compliance verification.
Why Professional Installation Matters
Parking lot lighting involves high-voltage outdoor electrical work with significant safety and liability implications.
Code Compliance & Liability
Commercial properties have legal obligations to maintain adequate lighting in parking areas. If a customer is injured in a poorly lit parking lot, the property owner faces significant premises liability exposure. Professional installation with documented photometric verification provides evidence of due diligence that protects you legally.
Proper Light Distribution
Parking lot lighting requires careful engineering to achieve uniform coverage without excessive brightness in some areas and dark spots in others. The wrong fixture type, mounting height, or pole spacing creates uneven lighting that fails code and creates hazards. We use photometric planning to eliminate guesswork.
Underground Wiring Safety
Parking lot circuits carry 240-480 volts through underground conduit that must withstand decades of ground movement, water exposure, and potential mechanical damage. Improper burial depth, wrong conduit type, or inadequate waterproofing at junction points causes ground faults that can energize pole bases and create electrocution hazards.
Dark Sky Compliance
Modern commercial lighting codes increasingly require full-cutoff fixtures that direct light downward rather than outward or upward. Fixtures that throw light sideways create glare for drivers and trespass onto adjacent properties. We specify and install fixtures that meet dark sky requirements while still providing the coverage your lot needs.
Parking Lot Lighting Pricing
Unity Power & Light provides detailed project proposals with fixed pricing for parking lot lighting projects. Every proposal includes a photometric plan showing expected light levels.
Project pricing depends on the number of poles, fixture wattage, existing electrical infrastructure, underground wiring requirements, and pole height. We provide a complete fixed-price proposal after our site survey.
For more information on parking lot lighting requirements, read our blog post: Parking Lot Lighting Requirements for Aiken Commercial Properties
Why Choose Unity Power & Light
Need other commercial electrical work? We offer a full range of commercial electrical services including interior lighting, panel upgrades, and electrical maintenance.
Need Parking Lot or Exterior Lighting?
Serving Aiken, SC and surrounding communities including North Augusta, Graniteville, New Ellenton, Jackson, and Clearwater. Schedule your free site survey today.