Lighting control relays are used to control outdoor area lighting for parking lots, athletic fields, street lighting projects, DOT projects, or any application where coordinated lighting of a large area is required. Rather than using individual photocells to control each individual lighting point, lighting control relays provide a centralized single control point for all of the lights in the circuit.

Outdoor lighting relays have four main components to consider when choosing a control for a given application, which are the control, the contactor, the over-current protection for the lighting circuit, and the case. The controls vary in design and complexity and range from photocell and timer controls, to microprocessor and panel board controllers. The switching medium ranges from air-break contactors, to sealed mercury tube contactors, to solid state thyristor controlled circuits. Outdoor control cases are constructed from a range of materials including heavy duty Bakelite cases, resilient UV stable polymer cases, die cast aluminum and multiple other metal case options.