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Power loads are essential in research relating to renewable energy systems. These systems cannot always be connected to operational equipment, such as AC inverters and DC loads, when specific experimental purposes are required. For example, the performance of a PV system may need to be determined within a semi-arid region or the effect of shading on a PV system may need to be quantified. In these cases, a stable and reliable power load is required to ascertain the performance of identical PV systems under specific conditions, where only one variable is different. Regulated LED's prove to be such stable and reliable power loads, as their internal makeup, and performance, is virtually identical from one LED to another. The purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence that a regulated LED outperforms a solar controller and battery in a pico-solar system during the winter season of South Africa. Results indicate that the regulated LED outperforms a solar controller and its associated battery, extracting 1.5% more power from its PV module, which is identical in make to the PV module connected to the solar controller. A key recommendation from this research is to promote the use of regulated LED lamps as power loads for renewable energy systems which fall into the pico-solar category. However, ascertaining the viability of regulated LED lamps in micro-solar and macro-solar systems should be investigated.