Solar Yard Lighting: The Wave Of The Future

You might have heard of solar yard lighting, but perhaps you do not really know what it is. Neighbors may have solar lighting in their yards, but you have not investigated the usefulness of this type of outdoor lighting. You will never know what you are missing until you do.

Sun Power

Solar lighting is a kind of lighting fixtures that are powered by the sun. They take in the sun’s energy into their solar cells during the daytime and store it in NiCad batteries. Then, at night these batteries run the light. The light may be fluorescent, but is usually an LED light.

If you are using individual solar yard lights, they must be set in places where they will get direct sunlight. It is amazing that satellites use solar technology just as solar yard lights do. Satellites gather power from the sun on the sunward side of earth and use it when they orbit around to the other side.

Solar Panels

Larger solar panels can be used to power a group of solar yard lights. One panel may be in a sunny location, and individual spots will be connected to it to use the energy stored within it. This way, you can use small yard lights where there is no direct sunlight to power them up during the daylight hours.

A solar yard light usually has just a few basic elements. One is the casing, which can be made of any number of different materials including plastic, copper, or stainless steel. The NiCad battery, of course, is an integral part of the solar light. An LED light makes the lamp shine. A light sensor lets the light know when it is time to use the stored energy.

Many solar lights are set up with a motion sensor. When movement is detected, a small halogen light produces a quick flash to call attention to the area. Solar lights are not particularly bright lights, but with this kind of help, they can lend a hand with security.

The Price

The price of solar yard lights is not outrageous, but it is not cheap either. They cost about $10 to $20 per individual light. The expensive parts are the solar cells and the NiCad batteries. The lights used to cost more, but as technology advanced the price went down. The price is expected to keep going down in the future.

Installation

The wiring for outdoor solar lighting is minimal. If you use individual spots, you do not have to do any wiring at all. You just take them out of the wrapper and place them where you wish them to go.

If you use a large solar cell with connecting small lights, you will have to do some wiring. However, you never have to connect to house current. This makes the installation much safer and easier.

Solar yard lighting is the wave of the future. It is more than energy efficient. The lights produce their own energy. You may be ready to jump on the solar bandwagon if you see the lighting as being powerful enough to do the job of lighting your yard.