Solar Lighting
Solar Lights – 10 Things to Consider When Selecting Solar Lighting
Author: Jerome Sturgeleski
Solar lights have been around for a long time and have greatly improved though the last few years. They come in various sizes, colors, materials and lighting types. Picking the right ones requires a little advanced planning. They can easily be installed anywhere and require no wiring. They only require direct sunlight and they will give you many hours of lighting pleasure.
Some ways to use Solar lightsare:
1. Solar pathway lights. You may want to light up a pathway to your outdoor hot tub, flower garden, and gazebo or even use they as driveway markers.
2. Solar landscape lights. You may want to enhance facets of your landscape. You can do this with sets of landscape lights that can be place anywhere to accentuate whatever you want to bring out.
3. Solar spotlights. You may want to light up a special tree, shrub or flower garden or just light up your house numbers. Many types of solar lights are available to do just that.
4. Solar stepping-stones. You can add a solar stepping-stone as a part of your pathway. These solar stepping-stones come in 12-14 inch square or round shapes have a small light that lights up at night. What a marvelous way to accentuate your pathways.
5. Solar rock lights . Solar rocks are lights in the shape of rocks and are usually spotlights. Their natural looking and add a subtle and practical touch to your yard. They can be intermingled within your rock garden to light up your ponds or pathways or whatever you’d like to light up.
6. Solar security lights. These come in a variety of styles ranging from all night-lights to motion detector lights. These are especially ideal for areas where running wires to them would be impractical. There are models that do can be hard-wired but only use electricity when not enough power has been stored in the rechargeable battery.
7. Solar frog lights. There are solar lights in the shapes of frogs and can be either a spot light or ones that glow in the dark. Image what your guest will say when they see something like this!
8. Solar dog lights. Just like solar frog lights, there are lights that come with dog figures holding a solar lantern. These types of lights can be put almost anywhere. What a great conversation piece these would be. A true addition for the dog aficionado
9. Solar Gnome lights. Gnome figures have become increasingly popular. These come in spotlights and with the gnome holding a lantern. Line your garden path with these whimsical solar gnomes lights.
10. Specialty solar lights. There are many of types of solar lighting solar lights in the form of owls, squirrels, angels, fairies, turtles and many other shapes.
As you can see, there are solar lights for practically any application. All you need is a sunny area to place them in. They do run on rechargeable batteries and they need to recharge during the light of day. Solar lights are relatively in expensive to they afford you the opportunity to experiment.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/landscaping-articles/solar-lights-10-things-to-consider-when-selecting-solar-lighting-348540.html
About the Author
Jerome Sturgeleski is an avid outdoors person and loves to stay out in his yard after dark. He lives in Minnesota so time outdoors is limited to just a few months of the year. After completing a landscaping project he thought the must be a way to light it up so he could enjoy in on those evenings out. He added some solar lights and liked it so well that he decided to start a website and sell solar lights so others could also add them and enjoy their outdoor spaces well into the evening. He started a website in May of 2005 called http://www.solarlightspro.com to allow people to see what types that are available.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
we had solar lights intel someone stole them.
Yes they do save money… but they don’t save anything for me because people keep taking them it makes me what to say “@#%*”
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
You need a panel, 5W is maybe fine, possibly 10W. 12V nominal.
You need a charge controller to prevent the batteries from overcharging.
You should use LED lighting.
I would prefer a Sealed Lead Acid cell.
It won’t be very cheap.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
These folks will even help with design:
http://www.siliconsolar.com/solar-landscape-lighting.php
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
There are sooo many different solar lights available. You can get strings of lanterns for interest and some that you can stake into the ground to delineate paths to/from the home for food/bathroom trips. I would also have something for mosquito control like citronella lanterns.
Have a GREAT party.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
Depends on your need for landscape lighting.
I find MOST bright landscape lighting unnecessary & garish. I find the soft subtle solar lights are perfect for most garden uses.
Remeber it is a garden – not the Las Vegas strip!!!
August 5, 2006
4:34 pm
Who thinks LED and Solar lights give quality lighting?
I’ve been installing landscape lighting for almost 20 years and can’t uderstand why people see value in LED & Solar lights. It’s like the electric car – great in theory but proformance leaves alot to be desired. Fireflies in a jar, Fireflies in a jar.
November 30, 2007
8:31 am
Does anbody make good landscape solar lighting products? Like a complete system?
I’m looking for something more powerful than those pale useless self-solar single lights, such are sold at Home Depot.
I’m looking for functionality, not a bargain.
June 15, 2008
3:03 pm
I’m having an outdoor party at night, and I want lighting?Solar lights?
I live out in the country,so lighting is limited. I really don’t want my guests to be out in the dark (with just a motion light!) so I was wondering what I could do for lighting. I was wondering if solar lights could be the answer? Along with candles..but I’m not sure about those since there will be children there..and even if there weren’t with 50+ people things could get crazy.So what can I do?
October 28, 2008
7:34 am
Help with a simple outdoor solar lighting system?
Hello, I want to have some light on my shed.
I was thinking on solar lighting. I have a 8xAA rechargeable battery from a toy car and I’m going to buy a solar panel, what kind do I need?
Do I need something else? What is a “solar panel controller”?
How I connect everything? What kind of bulbs are better?
Lots of questions! Thanks for your help!
Stephanie.
Hello, I want to have some light on my shed.
I was thinking on solar lighting. I have a 8xAA rechargeable battery from a toy car and I’m going to buy a solar panel, what kind do I need?
Do I need something else? What is a “solar panel controller”?
How I connect everything? What kind of bulbs are better?
Lots of questions! Thanks for your help!
Stephanie.
PS. I WANT to build it, I know there are very cheap ones out there, but the objective is to learn a bit of electricity (positives and negatives and all that).
February 12, 2009
9:42 am
Using outdoor solar lighting can save your money if you ?
Using outdoor solar lighting can save your money if you put those in your house at night time? Yes it does!
It saved me 30 dollars every months or more!
I wonder if you all have ever thought of that?
I would like to hear from you.
TY!
I put those solar light outside until it get dark then I put them in my houe.
PattyAnn = That true it is not strong light but I put 5 each in rooms. But it working!
Wow, I came back an hour later , all I have is two answered lol.