Good setup, was quite common here in systems done in the 80s/90s

One thing about the system was, the photocell used was most commonly a non waterproof one, and it was installed into the housing of a small Incandescent bulkhead as enclosure to protect it while letting light in (the E27 socket would be removed, and the photocell mounted in its position instead). So some buildings had a bulkhead slapped in a random spot on the side wall, which would look odd location for it unless you know what it really is

Interesting idea if you haven`t got an outdoor cell.

Pretty much all cells here (except mini cells built into luminaires) were like this :

http://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?album=2054&pos=10&pid=57693

So the bulkhead was the most common installation. Occasionally a transparent cover rectangular electric box was used instead. The bulkhead itself was usually this one :

http://www.electrosen.co.il/products/פיטינג-מנורה-מוגנת/

(Its now they list it for 18W CFLs, but origianlly it is rated for 40W/60W GLS, which is probably still printed in the Bakelite luminaire base itself unless they blanked it out). Inside is E27 socket on angle bracket. If that is removed, the photocell with its bracket can be fitted to the same screw hole

Virtually identical bulkhead is made today by 1 other manufacturer, back then was made by 1 more, so there were used bulkheads from all 3 of them

I've noticed that here in Israel, there is an abandoning of the photocontrol in favor of timers and astronomical clocks, as latter are more reliable.
Dor-Alon gas station, near the city center of Qiryat Ata, used a manual switch in the far past, and moved to photocontrol, but it went dead in a relatively short time in the recent time, resulting in dayburning lighting. So they moved to a timer switch.
Carmel hospital did a similar thing: They used PC for their outdoor lighting, but they moved to astronomical clock, after they found that the PC don't lasts.
Generally, it seems that for large outdoor lighting here, the transition is just the opposite to the thread title (Photocontrol abandoned in favor of timers and astronomical clocks).