Thursday, October 15, 2009

Easy Solar Spotlights




Okay, so if you followed the last two posts, you now have some solar pathway lights and solar accent lights. Have you noticed how nice your property looks now? So what are you missing? Well, actually a couple of things yet, but in this article we are going to discuss solar spotlights.

Okay, so go outside at night and look around. Everything is all nice and glowing and you get a great feel for the landscape vegetation, right? Where did that beautiful maple tree go? You can see the bottom of it from the accent lights, but it’s not really lit up to its full potential, is it? What about the flag hanging above your front porch? Imagine what that will look like all lit up! Okay, okay, I am done teasing, but you get my point right?

Solar spotlights are outdoor solar lights designed specifically for these types of applications. Unlike the other forms of outdoor solar lighting that we have discussed so for, solar spotlights are meant to project a beam away from the fixture toward whatever you want lit up. That means that they can usually be hidden away from your garden, tree, etc.

Since solar spotlights are pretty much meant to be hidden, you don’t need to worry so much about how the fixture itself looks. In fact, most spotlights don’t have the solar cells built right into them like accent or path lights. They usually have a separate solar panel that is connected to the fixture via a long wire. That way, you can hide the spotlight in the place where it will best light the structure you want it to light and hide the panel somewhere else where it will get sunlight during the day. Pretty slick, huh?

The only real downside to solar spotlights is that they are not as bright as conventional spotlights. This shouldn’t be too big a concern, though, unless you are trying to light up the Statue of Liberty. Even still, check the lumen ratings and you should be fine. Oh yea, and if you want the most efficient cells, so you will get better run times out of your lights, check my other solar lights blog. I have an article of two about some of the better solar technologies that are being developed and a couple of links to places to get good lights. Like with the solar accent lights and solar path lights, do your homework, and you should be fine.

Oh yea, and installation is just about as easy as the other lights we’ve discussed. Just stick them in the ground and aim. See you next time!

I recently came across this site Solar Lights Review that you might care to review.

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