Learn how solar lights work, do it yourself home and yard applications, and why they are expensive to buy but cheap to operate.
Outdoor solar lighting is ideal for do it yourself homeowners to install and use. Each light fixture operates independently and requires no trenches to be dug, wiring to be run or electrical connections made to a converter box attached to the house. Instead, installation is a matter of merely plunging a base into the ground, the location depending upon architectural accent and sunlight availability.
Besides being easy to install, solar lights cost nothing to operate and are environmentally friendly. The only maintenance they require is an occasional cleaning of the solar collector, a battery change every three years, and straightening the fixture should it be bumped by dog, kid, baseball, car or mower. They are very handy for quick landscaping changes. Merely pull up the fixture, move it to a new location and reinstall.
Solar lights are perfect for safety applications, providing low-level illumination suitable for lighting pathways, walkways, driveway entrances, long driveways, parking lots, home entrances, dark steps, stairways, curbs, garden paths, swimming pools, beaches or docks. Just about any application where a light is needed. They can also be used for decoration, highlighting gardens, fish ponds, flowerbeds, patios, decks and outdoor grills.
Because each fixture collects solar energy during the day, they must be installed where they are exposed to direct sunlight. Each solar fixture converts sunlight into energy stored in a rechargeable AA Ni-Cad battery. During the day a switch in a charging circuit allows light energy collected through a 2x2 inch solar panel, to be stored in the battery. At night, as ambient illumination fades, the solar cells shut down. A photoresistor senses the fading light level until it reaches a set threshold. Then it releases energy stored in the battery to a small LED. The LED, or Light Emitting Diode, is a device that emits light when connected to a power source in an electrical circuit. These are better known as "pilot lights" used as energized circuit indicators in appliances and electronics.
The amount of time the fixture illuminates during the night depends upon the amount of energy it collects and stores during the day, generally 12-15 hours, less on cloudy or stormy days. While some LEDs emit colored light, solar fixtures LEDs only emit white light. The light that is emitted is not very bright compared to incandescent bulbs or halogen, but it is bright enough to navigate by. The life expectancy of these LEDs is about 15-25 years.
Solar lights are expensive because they are made from silicon crystals in a highly controlled and costly cleanroom manufacturing process. As the technology advances, per item costs are slowly reducing. But while solar light production is more efficient today compared to a decade or two ago, the process remains costly. Solar lights are $20-$30 per unit, an investment offset by ease of installation and zero operating costs. Designs have changed considerably since they were first introduced. Today fixtures are available in a wide variety of architecturally pleasing designs in sturdy metal and plastic housings that can be inserted into the ground, suspended by a hook or hung from the eaves.
Solar lighting remains one of the best alternatives to expensive landscape lighting installations on the market. They are easy to install and require no backbreaking labor, perfect for the do it yourselfer. And when you move, they can go with you.
