There are all manner of intriguing new possibilities waiting to surprise and amuse anyone who might be toying with the idea of adding solar power to their garden shed. Not so long ago the humble wooden shed was seen as really no more than a handy store for garden furniture, toys and garden machinery and tools. But not any more.
Today’s shed is not just a place to store lawn mowers and garden tools, but has the potential to become a fully functional workshop, gym or simply a place to relax in comfort. Space is at a premium these days and even a small 10′ by 10′ shed offers 100 square feet of highly flexible extra space.
It goes without saying however that none of this is going to amount to anything without electric power (for lighting and operating assorted devices). Your options are twofold: run out a power line or mount some solar panels on the roof.
The first option means you need to somehow run (and protect) a power line from an isolator switch added to the household mains supply. Far and away the easiest means of mitigating many of the problems inherent in doing this is to first convert the mains supply to low voltage, typically using a 12v transformer. Gardens in general and wooden sheds in particular don’t mix well with high voltage electricity.
The alternative is simply placing a solar panel or several on your shed roof and hooking it up to a battery in order to collect the electricity. Working out the size and quantity of panels and batteries is a function of how much electricity you want. Once the panels and batteries are in place then connect your lights (energy saving LED lights are best) and switch on your solar shed lighting.
If you want to expend even less effort than this then there is an option available for you: an integral solar shed light kit which contains everything you need and is simplicity itself to install. These systems are often found pre-installed in brand new sheds, so popular has solar shed lighting become
But why stop at solar lighting out in your shed? Solar powered CCTV can offer protection to parts of your property that would otherwise be difficult to cover. Solar CCTV systems consume little power and use wireless connectivity to transmit images to a number of possible destinations: web space, local hard drive, email and phone.
Because solar CCTV cameras are wireless they can be concealed in all manner of places and should an intruder spot one it’s already too late – the camera would already have transmitted the images and their only realistic option would be to back off and leave promptly.
If you are interested in finding out more then this great article looks at solar sheds in much greater detail.
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December 20 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »
The key to success with most projects is to clearly identify from the start what it is you aim to achieve – and installing solar garden lighting is no different. Do you want to increase security around your property, provide courtesy lighting for visitors, entertain family and friends, or quite simply make your garden more appealing at night?
You might of course choose any or all of the above plus a few other ideas of your own, which means you will also have to figure out how to balance various competing demands on your solar lighting layout. So you can see then that specifying your various objectives upfront makes it a whole lot easier to divide your outdoor spaces into discrete zones and identify suitable light fittings.
If for example one of your requirements is to deter intruders approaching your property then solar deck lights, while highly versatile, simply won’t cut it. But by the same token you wouldn’t want to entertain folk under the glare of a solar floodlight. Something softer is required, but not so subdued your guests can’t actually see what they drinking or who they’re talking to.
Outdoor solar lights that are intended to be primarily functional in nature (rather than simply appearing attractive) are easiest to install since the criteria they have to meet are typically well defined. When illuminating a pathway, for example, the simple test is whether the lighting does indeed enable you to safely navigate the path at night. Likewise, solar security lights should fully flood those areas you wish to secure against possible intruders.
Of course quite a lot of solar garden lighting serves no better purpose than looking pretty at night, which is a highly subjective and less than rigorous requirement. However, even this aspect is not without some basic ground rules worth observing. First is the obvious fact that solar lights need daily exposure to the sun in order to recharge their batteries, so you have to consider daytime as well as night time location.
Second, because solar powered lights have to last many hour on a single charge from a battery they cannot afford to burn as brightly as mains powered lights. Modern high efficiency LED bulbs that use vastly less power greatly help, but even these are still usually less bright. But this characteristic is not necessarily a weakness and it is possible to obtain effects with solar garden lights that mains powered versions cannot manage.
Thirdly, one of the main attractions of outdoor solar lighting is that it is both extremely easy to install and equally easy to rearrange subsequently. You aren’t stuck with your initial decisions regarding placement and can endlessly try out various arrangements until you settle on one that looks most pleasing to you.
Finally, never forget that it is your garden and therefore you can do as you please. If you want to string solar fairy lights along a dull fence or scatter sun jars at random then go right ahead. The fact is that pretty much any outside garden lighting looks a whole lot better than none at all, and it is near impossible to make a garden actually look worse by installing solar lighting.
If you found this interesting then be sure to check out this additional article that looks at solar powered garden lights in more detail.
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November 18 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »