Solar Garden Lights

Solar garden lights can be used to decorate your gardens, pathways, parks, villas and gates. Solar garden lights consist of a solar panel, rechargeable batteries and LEDs. As the name suggests, they derive their energy from the natural source of light, the sun. On a sunny day, the batteries remain charged and functional for up to eight to ten hours through the night.

The best thing about solar garden lights are that they are environment friendly, require no additional wiring and are unaccompanied by spiraling electricity bills. You can find stylish and pocket friendly solar light options in your neighborhood home improvement stores as well as on shopping websites. Solar garden lights are being used in an increasing number of households and serve outdoor lighting needs perfectly.

Choosing solar garden lights

Solar garden lights are easy to install and maintain. They are available in different shapes and designs to fit all aesthetic tastes and budgets. Ground stake lighting, hanging solar lights, deck lights, step lights and garden spot lights are among the choices available. The aspects you must consider before purchasing solar lights include the brightness of the light, solar panels, light sensors, placement and installation.

Solar lights may be used to supplement the other lights in the garden and turn out to be very mild. You can opt for a solar light with a fluorescent bulb or two LEDs for extra brightness. The lights must be placed in an area where there is adequate exposure to sunlight. The solar lights may have sensors that detect the sunrise and sunset and therefore turn on and off automatically. Solar lights are so user-friendly that you may not even need an electrician as you only need to stake it into the ground or fix it onto a post. You can decorate the flowery bushes in your garden and your water fountains with your solar garden lights.

Solar garden lights which were initially found to be dim and low powered have now been developed in countries like China, Japan and the United States at an increasing speed. In countries with cold winters, there might not be adequate sunlight to power effective functioning of solar lights. Solar lights come in a variety of colors and are eco friendly. They may be used for both practical purposes such as security and decorative purposes.

Solar Landscape Lighting

Recent advances in solar landscape lighting have rendered it possible for LED lights to burn brightly for a longer time period. LEDs almost never need to be changed. You may need an electrician only in the rare case that you intend to install a large number of solar lights. The only disadvantage of solar lights is that they need to be placed in areas where there is sufficient sunlight, failing which they will burn dimly.

Solar landscape lighting can help mark entrances, garden accent, deck lighting, accent walkways and steps and highlight obstacles on one's footpath. Yards and gardens can be lit up with solar landscape lighting.

A particular area might not receive adequate sunlight throughout the year and this may be tackled by the installation of solar panels on the roof or at a spot where there is more sunlight, although this may prove to be a more expensive option.

Some of the choices available for solar landscape lighting include wall mounted hanging solar lights, solar spotlights for intense lighting targeting a particular area, solar patio lights for decks or patios, and decorative solar lights in the styles of solar frogs, solar gnomes, and other such creatures. Solar landscape lights come in copper, stainless steel, verdigris, and plastic finishing.

Try placing your solar lights at close proximity for effective lighting rather than placing them far apart. Solar lighting can be used to add a personal touch to your home and garden. They are also maintenance free. The farthest you will have to go is an occasional cleaning of the panels when they gather dust. Lawn lights and flood lights are other options available. You can also easily relocate your solar lights. Photo voltaic cells are now available to keep your landscape well lit even through the harsh winter days.

The three types of landscape lights are accent lights, path and task lights. Accent lights radiate a pleasant light and use multi-crystalline solar cells that continue to get charged even during cloudy days or in shady areas. They can be used to highlight dangerous obstacles or garden features such as pools or ponds.

Path lights as the name suggests are used to light paths, walkways and driveways. They can guide you up a staircase and have are moderately priced and have a medium output.

Task lights or spotlights emit the most amount of light and are the brightest of all the solar lights. They are also predictably the most expensive of the lot. Although they cannot perform like 100 watt flood lights, they have a much longer lifespan than the average incandescent light.

The feature that makes solar landscape lighting better than the regular lighting is that they get brighter as temperatures drop. Solar lights need to be UV stable and weather proofed. They may be manually switched on and off and the energy can be stored for usage at another hour. You can now make the great outdoors safer at an affordable rate with your rechargeable battery powered solar lights. You can keep your kids and guests within safe limits and keep burglars and miscreants at a distance. You can install solar lights without bearing the additional costs of installation, all in a few seconds time.