Using solar garden lights correctly can greatly enhance the appearance of your home and garden. It can create an emotional response and provide a relaxing atmosphere for you and your family to enjoy. Solar garden lights can provide a number of different functions, such as security lighting, pathway lighting and are great for creating aesthetics. Determine the number and type of light fixtures you will need and what function they will be used for. Security lighting will have a brighter light and are usually installed on the side of houses, porches and entryways. Lights with motion sensors are great for security lighting because they will turn on when anything comes into range of your house or yard. Pathway lighting will be placed along walkways and paths through your yard and garden. This type of outdoor lighting should be dimmer but bright enough to properly illuminate the intended path of travel preventing accidents from happening. Aesthetic lighting will accent special features or objects of your yard or garden, even on your house. Some lighting techniques to consider for this are called up-lighting, down-lighting, washing, and shadowing. Be careful not to over-light the intended feature or element. Try and direct the light at the center of the object. Here are a few tips and ideas for using solar garden lights to consider for your garden and yard: -Try to hide lighting fixtures when possible unless, of course, they should be a visible part of your garden design. -Illuminating certain trees and bushes will make your yard seem bigger and create a sense of wonder. -Illuminate statues to create a dramatic look. -Light up water elements such as ponds or water fountains. It takes a little planning when using solar garden lights. Take some time and think it through. When you're done you will have created an inviting and beautiful outdoor environment for you to spend time relaxing with family and friends. Many people are now choosing alternative energy sources to power home appliances. Smaller devices, such as solar garden lights, come with the ability to absorb the sun's energy without tapping into an expensive solar panel. In addition to being a green choice, solar-powered lights are also inexpensive, easy to maintain and simple to install. About Solar Powered Lights Until recently, most solar powered lights provided a weak light. New innovations in LED technology have resulted in highly efficient LED bulbs that can produce bright light with less energy. In addition to providing a bright light, LED bulbs are so efficient that most solar-powered lights will work in any weather condition. Solar garden lights come in a number of styles and designs. The three main styles of solar lights for the garden are accent lights, path lights and spotlights. Exploring the purpose of these different designs can help consumers choose the right model for their needs. Solar Accent Lights Accent lights are typically used to provide a decorative glow to a garden. Accent lights can be used to mark a landscape hazard, such as a stone that may be tripped over or the boundaries of a garden. Their output is minimal and is not enough to mark a path or illuminate an object. Solar accent lights charge very well in overcast conditions and may run from 8-12 hours on a single charge. Solar accent lights are typically the least expensive option. Solar Path Lights Solar path lights are used to illuminate paths, driveways or other perimeters in a home garden. These lights are available in three common varieties: ground stakes, flange mounts and hanging hooks. Path lights may come with an on/off switch, enabling the homeowner to reserve stored power for when it is needed. Other options available in some path lights include the option to switch between bright and dim lighting, colored lenses and timers. Solar Spotlights Spotlights are the most expensive and brightest solar light option. Solar spotlights produce a single bright beam of light to aim at a statue, doorway or other object. These lights frequently allow the solar panel to be mounted separately, ensuring maximum solar collection. In addition to these different designs, solar lights also come in a number of colors and styles. Whether searching for an attractive glow, useful path illumination or a bright beam of light, solar garden lights can meet any homeowner's need affordability. Solar Garden Lights Have you ever wanted to have a light for your garden for at night time, but didn't want to use electricity to power them or have to replace bulbs very often? Then a solar garden light may be right for you. They may run a little bit on the expensive side, but are well worth it for someone trying to light up their garden but still wanting to stay environment friendly. They make and store their own power during the day and don't release this energy until at night, lighting up any pathway they may be set up by. How They Work Inside a solar garden light are the following components: the battery, LED, and the controller board. The solar panels on the outside of the light are the things that capture the sunlight for the battery to store the energy to use throughout the night. The LED, or in more scientific terms, light emitting diodes, are the bulbs that light up the lamp. The good thing about LED bulbs is that they don't have a filament in the center of the bulb, so you don't have to worry about it ever going out, and they don't heat up like regular incandescent bulbs. Beat that Edison. The controller board, or in other terms, the circuit board, in the garden light is the component that controls the circuits of the solar energy to the light, which allows the entire light to light up your garden. The Types of Solar Garden Lights Available There is a large variety of different solar garden lights available. From spot lights to lights that are lit up around the path, there are so many for a customer to choose from. One type of lights available are solar garden accents. These lights add a nice glow to your garden. Their lighting is set to low to allow a pleasant glow to your outdoor wonderland. Also, due to the fact that they run a bit dimmer, they run for much longer than other types of solar garden lights. It isn't uncommon for a single charge for a light to charge it enough for it to run many nights in a row. Another type of solar garden lights are the solar path lights. These run brighter than accent lights, so they are known to not run as long, but these are sometimes desired due to their brightness. As their name obviously states, they are meant to be placed along pathways and along the perimeters of driveways and houses. There are a variety of mounts that are involved with these lights as well. You can have ground stakes, flange mounts, and even hanging hooks for along stairways to light dark areas. The Benefits of Solar Garden Lights There are many benefits to using solar garden lights. Along with being a great green alternative to using generic electricity, by using these lights, you can notice a significant drop in your electricity bill. Also, since you would be using less electrical wires, than you can greatly reduce the risk of fires in your home. Another benefit would be if there are power outages in the area. Since you don't use as much electricity and rely more on these lights, as long as there is sunlight that day, there can be light in the darkness of the outage. There are so many sizes and shapes that they come in, that any possible light that you want, there possibly is. These lights have increased in popularity and may continue for many years to come. If you are searching for a way to give a new look to your garden and also do something for the environment, solar garden lights are the thing for you. These lights are great for lighting up walkways in your garden or even as spotlights over the swimming pool or barbeque area. They have a solar panel that absorbs energy from sunlight during the day and stores it for later use, to power an LED light and bring your garden to light after dark. Most manufacturers design these lights to turn on automatically as soon as it gets dark, saving you the worry of having to remember to switch them on every evening. The battery panel of the solar garden lights can hold about 8 to 10 hours of energy, so they remain lit up all night long and get fully discharged by dawn, ready to start a new cycle of getting recharged from the sunlight. Once installed, there are no operating costs are they are powered by the energy of the sun, which is free; you will notice a considerable reduction in your home's monthly energy bill. These lights are surprisingly bright, easy to install in the garden and equally easy to maintain in the long run. By saving electric power, you will also feel good doing your bit for the environment. Solar garden lights are available in all shapes and sizes to suit your lighting needs. Instead of struggling with the waxy mess and the delicate flame of outdoor candles, you can use solar table lights for a romantic outdoor dining ambience. You can find these decorative lights in the cutest designs to suit any holiday or themed party. Once you get these solar lights, you will not want to switch back to electric-powered lights for your garden ever again. |