Some Things About Solar Patio Lights to Consider

One of the best ways to decrease your current consumption of energy is to optimize the output and placement of your light fixtures. Solar patio lights are the most effective tool to completely eliminate these costs that can be installed on your property. However, you should invest in fixtures containing a separate panel for powering them if you are unsure as to whether or not you need to put them someplace where they may not get direct sunlight. In this way, solar lights can be easily positioned in whatever areas you need.

During the night hours sufficient light is provided by these lights to your landscape for enhancing its. Some manufacturers are even trying to implement an innovative technology which can function on cloudy days. You can install these fixtures with some basic and simple tools or simply with your hands. Ground solar lights are mounted on a stake, which needs only to be pushed into the ground. These are used especially to illuminate either the side of the driveway or walkway. They can also be used around shrubs and in flowerbeds for creating an awesome effect. You can use hanging lights for your decks, fencing and overhangs for creating an illuminated perimeter surrounding your home.

Flush and sconce lights can offer beautiful illumination when installed on solid surfaces like railings, walls and fences, considering the fact that they don't contain directional illumination. Upon visiting a lighting store, you will find that solar patio lights are available in a wide variety of decorative designs. This means that these lights can enhance the beauty of your surroundings even during the daylight. Decorative hanging lamps can bring a theme to your garden area. You can use structural or animal fixtures almost anywhere to add fun and decoration to your exterior property. A perimeter could be formed around flowerbeds with the help of rock or stone light fixtures. Endless possibilities are offered by the versatility of solar lights, when you want to enhance or decorate your home's landscape.

These long-lasting fixtures come with varying price tags, however, depending on the styles and quality that you are looking for, so make sure you research your purchase thoroughly. Whichever way you decide to go, making the decision to invest in solar lights will give you a chance to go green and reduce your maintenance costs, while adding beauty and elegance to your home.

Benefits of Solar Driveway Lights

Have you been thinking about installing some solar driveway lights around your driveway? There are a lot of benefits that you will be able to get when you make the decision to use solar power for the lighting outside of your home. Not only will you be helping the Earth by not using electricity but you will be helping yourself by taking advantage of all of the great things that solar lights provide. If you are thinking of putting some lighting around your driveway then you will want to make sure that you know about some of the benefits that you will be able to get when you use solar lights instead of the traditional types of lighting that are available.

One befit that you will be able to get by installing solar driveway lighting is a cut in your electric bill. Solar lights use the energy that they gather from the sun during the day to operate at nighttime. This means that you do not have to worry about them using any electricity resources to run when it gets dark outside which in turn means that you will save money on your electric bill.

Another great benefit to having solar driveway lights is that they are easy to install. You will not have to worry about digging up the ground to run power cords, or trying to find extension cords that are long enough to reach the plugs for some of the lighting systems that you will find. Most types of solar lights that you will be able to find to use along the edges of your driveway come fixed to a stake that you simply push into the ground.

There is little to no assembly required for the use of solar lighting. There are only a few parts that make up a solar light that you will have to worry about assembling if they are not already assembled when you buy them. You will find a stake that is used for securing the light firmly in the ground, a globe to concentrate the power of the light, and a top to the globe that contains that solar panel and the solar battery that is used to give the light its power. You can assemble a solar light in a matter of a few seconds and have it ready to use.

There are a lot of great benefits that you will be able to take advantage of with solar driveway lights. You will want to make sure that you look at a few different ones to choose the ones that will work the best for you. You will be able to see better when you pull into your driveway at night thanks to the power of solar lighting.

Solar Garden Lights

To many home owners, their outdoor garden is the prime spot for relaxation. It is the perfect place to unwind after a hard day’s work, or a long day tending to the needs of their children. This means that people are constantly looking for way to improve the aesthetics of their gardens.

Solar garden lights are the perfect way to do this. They are excellent value and come in a wide variety of different styles; there is something to suit everyone’s tastes. They not only improve the garden, but they will help you to enjoy your garden at night by illuminating the area subtly. This creates the relaxing haven that you desire. Not only are these outdoor lights great value, they are also completely ozone friendly and will obviously not add to your electricity bill, as they are operated purely from the power of the sun.

People’s awareness of global warming, and the damage that is being caused to the ozone layer, has grown over the last few years. This has prompted an increase in the number of people looking for more environmentally friendly ways to lead their lives. The use of solar garden lights is a great start. The fact that they are completely free of wires makes them extremely versatile, and very safe to use too. They can literally be placed anywhere in the garden, meaning that you can add extra light in areas that require it the most.

These solar lights come with a rechargeable battery and an LED bulb, which provide the light. All of the solar garden lights are set to automatically come on once it turns dark. This feature can be switched off if you want the lights out when you go bed. Once fully charged throughout the day by the sun, most models can provide you with between 8 and 10 hours of light. This should be more than enough to keep your garden lit for the duration of any gathering at your home, such as a BBQ or a party. Thus enabling you to enjoy your garden late into the night, without the lights you would be forced to take the party inside.

Solar lighting really is the perfect way to put the finishing touches to your outdoor space. The level of light that they emit will give your garden a relaxed and pleasant mood. The options are endless; they can be used around your swimming pool, your pond, to illuminate pathways, literally anything.

Click Here for the best info on Solar Energy and how to Build Solar Panels

Solar Patio Lights

Now that spring is almost here, quite a few of us are looking forward to backyard BBQs and other evening social events.  We love to have these get-togethers on our back patios.  Many of us, therefore, know the importance of having adequate light.  Not having enough light can turn a festive evening into an event that will be talked about for all the wrong reasons!  Solar patio lights are one of the easiest ways to insure that you and your guests get full enjoyment out of the evening.

Do you have patio lights now?  Most back yards have a single bulb, mounted to the outside wall with a switch inside that turns it on and off.  I have seen people actually holding a flashlight while trying to cook on the BBQ!  “Hold this and aim it at the chicken” is a phrase I have heard all too often.  I have even seen back patios with extension chords running along the awnings to try to get more lights to dark sections of the yard.  I remember a party I went to a year or so ago where we kept losing our light because people kept unplugging the extension chord by tripping over it! There has got to be a better way!

There is better way.  It is solar patio lights.  Solar lights can be mounted pretty much anywhere you need and have so many options and styles to choose from that it is very easy to find the perfect combination of lights to give you exactly what you need, where you need it.  You can opt to install several lights around the edge of your patio to give a soft glowing light to the whole area, providing a warm and inviting ambience. You can use solar spot lights to highlight other areas of your patio.   You can set them up to cast a multicolored glow from your patio cover or awning.  You can even use them as outdoor flood lights to help to light larger areas.

The great thing about solar patio lights is that they need no external electrical supply source.  Like with all solar lights, you need only install them so that their solar panels can receive direct sunlight during the day, and when evening comes they will switch on automatically.  They come in a vast array of styles so you can mix and match them to work with your existing patio decor.  Installation can usually be accomplished in a matter of minutes.

The biggest concern from consumers about using outdoor solar lights has been in the areas of cost and dependability.  Over the last couple of years, however, solar technology has grown so much as to render those concerns obsolete.  Solar cells have become much more efficient and much less expensive to manufacture.  The integration of LED lighting has made concerns about bulbs burning out a thing of the past.  With a little bit of research and some savvy buying your patio can be beautifully lit with solar patio lights.

Easy Solar Lights Shopping

Hello again!  I thought I would make things even easier for you by opening up a store and giving you everything you need to buy solar lights right from this site!  I have a few models listed on this page:

For the entire selection, CLICK HERE.

Easy Solar Holiday Lights

With the holidays approaching, many people look for new and fun ways to decorate their homes. Maybe you are looking for some new ideas for Halloween decorations. Maybe you’re just tired of the old Christmas lights that you have been using for years. What better way to light up your holidays than with solar holiday lights?

Traditional holiday lights are a hassle. You always wind up running extension chords all over the place, burned out bulbs need to be replaced; you have to worry about short circuits due to rain, the huge electricity bills… Yea, it’s a pain. Solar holiday lights completely eliminate those hassles, but how do they look?

Solar lighting technology has come so far in just the last couple of years that manufacturers have release a huge assortment of solar lighting styles – including Halloween and Christmas lights. For Christmas you have options like:

• Solar Net Lights
  - These are basically a "net" of LED lights that you use to wrap a shrub. They light up at night and a sensor turns them of when the sun rises. They stay lit for about 8 hours and require 1 AAA battery that is sold separately.


• Solar Christmas string lights
  - This is a string of 50 solar powered LED lights that can be strung around lamp posts, trees, mail boxes, banisters, etc. They also have a sensor that turns them on at night and off during the day and run for about 8 hours.


• Solar Multicolor LED Christmas Lights
  - These are a lot like the Solar string lights above, but are multicolor. They also have daylight sensors and 50 LED bulbs.


• Solar Blue Snow Flake Lights
  - I personally have these and I love them. They are really bright and very pretty. There were a couple of bad reviews from people having a problem with the lights shorting out after a while, but I have had no problems with mine. They are only $8 for a string of 20, and the seller has great feedback, so for me, it was worth trying.

If you're looking for Halloween decorations, you can choose:

• Solar Halloween Lighted Carved Pumpkin Jack-o-lantern Decoration
  - This is a solar power smiling Jack-o-lantern decoration for a front lawn or similar. It is about 8" in diameter and has a daylight sensor that lights it up at night and turns it off during the day.


• Halloween Sound Activated Rocks GO BACK or BOO Yard Decorations
  - These are 9.5" by 6 by 4 rocks that light up at night with a greeting for visitors. Choose either "Go Back" or "Boo". They are, of course, solar powered and have a daylight sensor.


• Solar Powered Halloween Lighted Skull Decoration
  - This is exactly like the pumpkin decoration, but in a skull. It is also a little bigger than the Jack-o-Lantern (about 10").
  
  

Needless to say, they all come with the benefits that we come to expect from all solar lighting products, like: ease of installation, energy efficiency, versatility, etc. Not to mention, most traditional lights need to be either turned on and off manually, or attached to a timer. All of these solar holiday lights come with daylight sensors. It doesn't get more trouble free than that!

I hope this article was able to give you some ideas for the upcoming holidays.

Cheers!

Easy Solar Accent Lighting

Let’s talk about solar accent lights. Solar accent lighting is used to add accents to your home’s garden or landscaping (hence the name). Solar accent lights commonly have a lower level of brightness than solar path lights and are principally used to highlight entire areas and not necessarily a specific pathway or driveway.

Since solar accent lights are not as intense as other types of outside lights, they have can run much longer on less energy. It is not unusual to get a couple of nights of illumination out of a single charge. Try to find accent lights that come with multi-crystalline solar cells. They are capable of collecting energy even on gloomy days. I should also point out that the amber LED’s seem to have a longer run time than white. The amber LED’s also create a softer glow than harsher white LED’s.

Solar accent lights are also offered in blue, green, or red. This gives you the opportunity to choose whichever colors best complement your garden or patio. They also come in a variety of styles including lanterns, ceramic spheres, glass mosaics, color changing globes, table lamps, tiki torches, string lights (fireflies)… Just about any outdoor light fixture you can think of is available in a solar powered version.

There are a few things to consider when choosing solar accent lights:

Taller fixtures will spread the light over a larger area, which will allow more illumination to accent surrounding surfaces. Shorter fixtures will light smaller areas and cast more shadows onto surrounding walls and such. Solar accent lights can be used to highlight garden waterfalls and sculptures, as well as other special features in your landscaping. To get the greatest effect from solar accent lights, it is usually best to have several lights placed closely together, rather than spread out. Try different light colors in close proximity to each other to create different effects.

Out of all the types of solar lights on the market today, accent lights offer the greatest selection of styles and applications. They are all just as easy to install as solar path lights, so the most difficult part is the planning and choosing the ones that are going to work best for your application. Happy shopping!

Easy Solar Path Lights

Out of all the outdoor solar lighting solutions available, one of the easiest to install are solar path lights. These are lights that you use to light up you driveway or walk ways. Usually solar path lights are self contained units that you just take out of the packaging and stick in the ground. What could be easier?

There are a couple of things to consider first, before you rush off to your local home improvement store. First of all, you want to make sure that the locations you have chosen for your lights are accessible to sunlight. If not, you will need to get lights that have a separate solar panel that you can place in a sunlit area, or they will not charge enough to give off light at night.

The second consideration is the type of lights. Solar path lights are a little different from other types of solar lighting in that they are designed to point the light downward towards you path or driveway. If you accidentally get accent lights and hope that they will light up your walkway, you will be disappointed. They will not put out nearly enough light. There are some solar accent lights that you can use to cast a glow on your walkways, but “cast a glow” is about all they will do. Be sure you think about how you want the lighting to look, so that you know the exact type of light to get.

The third consideration is the quality of the light. Do your research. Make sure the manufacturer uses quality solar cells and LED bulbs. Check the “lumens” to make sure they put out the right amount of light. Here is a tip for you. Check the lumen rating for a solar light that you like. Then go to the “flashlight” isle. Most flashlights tell you the lumens and offer you the ability to test the light in the store. Check out the flashlights that have the same lumen value as the solar path lights that you like. That will give you an idea of whether or not it will put out enough light for your application. :)

Other than that, just stick them in the ground and watch them work. Easy!

Check out this site on solar garden lighting!

Intro to Solar Lighting

Why solar lighting? If you read the newspaper or watch the news You likely know the environment is in trouble. Too many years of taking our resources for granted has caused our planet to run out of sources of non-renewable energy. We have begun a global re-think in regards to how we use our energy and from which sources. The solar revolution has begun!

Sure, you think of solar energy as having to spend thousands of dollars to put solar panels on your roof, right? Well, you CAN do that, and in fact, if you can, I recommend that you do. Converting you home to solar power is getting less and less expensive. But this sight is about easy!

Did you know that just how you light your home and garden accounts for a huge percentage of your electricity? The easy way to fix this is with solar lighting. Solar lighting fixtures come in a vast array of styles and designs. They can be used to light up the interior of a home, garage, or shed (indoor solar lighting), or as security lights, around your landscaping, or to light your walkways (outdoor solar lighting).

There are both “pros and cons” that you may want to consider, but the “pros” far outweigh the “cons” for most people. The first point you may want to consider is the bulbs. Most solar lighting fixtures have LED bulbs. LEDs are extremely durable bulbs that offer a very long life span. Most LED bulbs will last for the life of the solar light fixture. They also do vey well in just about any climate and are fairly impact resistant as well. This means they are ideal for outdoor fixtures, but they are not nearly as bright as other types of bulbs. LED bulbs must be clustered together in order to obtain a brightness similar to a standard fluorescent bulb. Many companies are currently able to manufacture such fixtures as spot and flood lights using LED bulbs, so the only real “con” to solar lighting is going to be eliminated within the next few years. Solar lights also enjoy wide applicability, efficiency and are very easy to install.

In my next article, I will discuss how to get started with a simple solar lights project.