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Solar Light: A Delightful And Affordable Upgrade For YourHomes And Garden.

A few years back, solar lights were a promising idea on paper, but disappointing in practice. They gave off very dim light and stayed lit for a few hours at best.

Solar lights today are completely changed from what was available on the market even a year or two ago.

Modern solar lights use vastly improved design and new technologies to provide more light and a longer lasting performance than the previous generation. Since they’ve also come down in price, they are also a better value than before.

You may find a similar change when you compare the technology in the first series of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The original concept was good, but they didn’t have a clue what technology would bring twenty years down the road.

Solar lighting can also be compared to the great strides cell phones have made in the last ten to fifteen years. Cell phones used to be bulky, expensive devices compared to the extremely small Bluetooth-enabled headsets on the market now. Advances in battery and microprocessor technologies have made cell phones so portable and cheap that nearly everyone now carries one.

Batteries have also come a long way in recent years. Ultra thin batteries are now available which provide more power and longer life than batteries four times their size did only a couple of years ago.

These same technological advances have been used in the new solar lights that you see on the market. A one day charge in good daylight will let the solar lights shine for several nights now.

Solar powered lights have also largely abandoned incandescent bulbs in favor of highly efficient light emitting diode arrays (LEDs).

LED arrays used with a single reflector give solar lights the luminescence of a 220 volt incandescent bulb – but there are many advantages to the latest wave of solar lights over the older models:

1. 10,000 hours of useful life

2. Maintenance free LED light

3. 9% higher efficiency than solar lights using incandescent bulbs while using a mere 3 watts of power.

4. LEDs are completely safe for use outdoors because they are totally sealed units

LED powered solar lights with their efficient, compact batteries and improved photovoltaic arrays let you harness the sun’s energy to provide free and clean solar powered outdoor lighting.

New generation solar lights are a low cost and efficient outdoor lighting system which offers versatility for outdoor lighting designs.

Solar lighting is easy to install since it requires no wiring. You can place them anywhere that they will get enough sunlight to charge during the day and by night, they can light your garden paths, flower beds, deck or anywhere else you want them.

You don’t need to worry about adding to your electric bill at the holidays, either. Remember the light show in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where the power drain blew the whole electricity grid?

You can add attractive twinkling light to your holiday lights or for your outdoor entertaining in the summer.

You can even use solar lights to provide illumination in your tool shed or the garage as back up lighting when the power goes out.

With solar lights, you can enjoy versatile and attractive outdoor lighting which has no operating cost.

Solar power lights are gentle on the environment as well as on your finances.

Since they’re easy enough to install and move as desired, you can change your outdoor lighting configuration whenever you like.

Solar powered security lights can give you peace of mind without hitting your pocketbook. Thieves prefer the cover of darkness in which to approach a house and break in. Solar security lights and lights in your garden will make that impossible. The lights stay on all night long and can’t be turned off by cutting the electrical wires. Even when you are away from home, your solar lighting is on the job, protecting your property.

If you want to sell your home, solar lights can add extra curb appeal to your property. Potential buyers often come by and look at homes at night as well as in the daytime. If they see one home which is darkened and another well lit with these free to use, eco friendly outdoor lighting systems, they will probably prefer the second option.

Solar lights use advanced technologies to provide homes with clean, free outdoor lighting that is a reliably solid investment.

June 15 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »

Solar Light: The New Technology That Saves You Money

When it comes to lights in our future, solar lights are the way to go. Humans have been using the light from the sun for years, but it has only been in the past few years that we can harness and use the power from the sun. Using solar lights is another step towards become more eco friendly.

Not only are solar lights able to be used in many ways, but they are earth friendly too. The sun is a source of energy that is renewable and we can use the energy from it without causing more pollution to occur. Using solar lights allows us to light up our world without having to increase negative effects on the earth.

It’s a good idea to take a look at how solar lights actually work. The light fixtures actually have a little solar power on top of them. They are a lot like the panels you see on roofs for homes, but much smaller. During the time that the sun is out, the panel collects energy from the sun, which is transferred to a battery that can be recharged again and again. When the sun is out, the battery charges up, and then when it gets dark, that energy is taken and used on the LED light, which provides light through the dark hours.

Today solar lights are used primarily to brighten the outside in our gardens, the backyard, around the pool, and the path to the front door or garage. With this in mind, solar lighting fixtures are available in a vast assortment ranging from functional to decorative. Solar lights can be found to attach up high on a building or to hang from a post or tree shining down to light a wider area. There are many lantern designs to choose from for use closer to the ground rendering a walkway safer to navigate. Would lights on your pool, pond or moat be pleasing? Youll find a floating variety offered as well.

Installation of solar lights is quite easy. There are no trenches to dig for the lights and no complicated wiring to deal with either. It’s very simple to press these lights into the ground or to hang them up somewhere. These lights are independent from each other, and only need to be placed in an area where they get plenty of sunlight.

LEDs are much longer lasting than regular light bulbs and use very little power to keep going. More often than not the LED will last as long as the solar light fixture itself, years. Because LEDs are dimmer than regular bulbs, fixtures are manufactured using reflective surfaces and are available with numerous LED to increase brightness.

Solar lights are going to vary in costs. Some home improvement stores offer great prices, while a boutique with garden enhancing lights may charge a bit more for the lights. No matter what you pay for them, you won’t have to keep paying for electricity to use the lights, since sun light doesn’t cost a thing. If you replace other lighting fixtures that use electricity with these solar lights, you will probably notice that you save some money on your electric bill.

The advantages of solar lights are many. Even short, gray, winter days hold enough sunlight to fully charge the battery. As long as the sun continues to rise and set the lights will turn on and off automatically. The LED produces no heat ensuring safety around children and pets. During a power outage you may sit outside and read a book or play cards with your neighbors. Solar lights are clearly a benefit to our planet and its the neighborly thing to do!

June 03 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »