Solar Lighting basics

If you need some light in your yard, you can do no better than look into installing some solar lighting. There are a host of reasons why these lights are better than those powered from your house electrical system, and hardly any disadvantages.

Unlike conventional lighting, solar lighting needs no external electricity supply, allowing you to install it without wiring in places where you have no power. It works by absorbing power from the sun during the day on a solar panel, also called a photovoltaic cell, which charges a battery inside. When the night comes, a light sensor on the unit turns on the light, which runs off the battery.

This means that you don’t have to pay for any electricity to light your garden every night of the year, and that you don’t even have to remember to turn on the lights before going outside. Any time you want to rearrange the lights, you just pull them up and move them – try doing that with wired lights! And there’s never a question of you electrocuting yourself from contact with the power.

There is a wide range of models available, and solar lights can be used for many applications. You can get landscape lighting, which is general low-level lighting to make your garden pretty at night or light up the paths; solar deck lights are great for entertaining and make sure that guests are less likely to trip on the steps. Solar spotlights are the next step up, lighting important parts of your home, flagpoles, and featured landscaping.

You can also choose lighting that is purely functional, such as floodlights, for safety and security. These often come with a motion sensor, so are a great deterrent to thieves. You can even have solar powered flashlights or lanterns, which are useful if you always forget to check the batteries, although you do need to make sure that the light is stored in the daylight for charging.

Nowadays you will find quite a few lights use LEDs (light emitting diodes) for their “bulbs”. These often appear a little blue in color, are a small diameter (although several may be grouped together), and until recently did not emit much light. They would be fine for some ambience lighting, but not so useful for security. Some newer solar lights are available that have brighter LEDs, so be sure to check these out when buying. LEDs have the advantage that they are more efficient, using less power, so they can stay lit for longer