Understanding Solar Powered Lights
Solar powered lights may not be for every application. The solar powered fixtures produce an intense glow and emit beautiful shadowing around the surrounding areas. Solar powered lights are perfect for those applications where a regular power source is unavailable and where accent lighting is required. The specially designed solar panel collects natural sunlight and converts it into electrical power that is stored in highly efficient rechargeable batteries. Note that solar powered lights will be strongest during the first few hours of operation and then slowly diminish in output during the night. Also note that the operating conditions will fluctuate with cloudy, rainy and winter-like weather. With fully charged batteries and 8 hours of sunlight, solar powered lights will provide many hours or nighttime illumination.
Solar Powered Lights - More Information
It is a fact that all of our energy comes from the sun. Therefore, there is something delightful about the idea of using solar powered lights as our garden lights. The advantages of solar powered lights are that they can be freely distributed in gardens without owners having to worry about cabling, or their children being electrocuted. Solar powered lights also score high marks for their use of renewable energy and little or no emission of pollutants.
The problem with solar powered lights is that they tend to have only a small area of solar cells and a relatively modest battery capacity. The consequences of these shortcomings are that solar-powered lights have a reputation for emitting a small amount of light for a short period of time. But the technology of solar cells and batteries is improving all the time and the current generation of solar powered lights is superior to the first generation of solar powered lights which damaged their reputation.
In general, solar powered lights, as with many things, the more you pay the better the quality of the product.
Therefore, solar powered lights, with low voltage lights, are a landscape lighting option. They require no electrical wiring. They are powered by DC electricity generated from sunshine and can easily be relocated should you redesign your landscape. Solar powered lights have built-in photo sensors so they automatically turn off during the day and turn on at night. Best of all, light from solar powered lamps doesn't require the burning of fossil fuels and the generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and pollutants associated with the generation of electricity by a utility.
Larry Quick, coordinator of the landscape technology program at Jefferson State Community College, writes in Birmingham News on August 20, 2005:
"I've got several solar-powered outdoor lights scattered around my front yard. They are tucked away in nooks and crannies that receive several hours of direct sunlight during the day and then give off a soft diffused light at night. It is nice to have small areas of the garden come alive when the sun goes down. It is the next best thing to a low-voltage outdoor lighting system.
"Solar energy drives most life on our planet. Scientists have done an amazing job of manufacturing silicon wafers that can capture light energy and turn it into clean, non-polluting, electrical energy. As fossil fuels become scarcer and prices increase, solar energy will become an economically viable option. "
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