Solar Lighting - Not Where it Needs to Be?

Answer 1

If you are new to the world of solar lighting, you might be surprised by their unreliability. Before you go down to your local garden center and pick up a dozen solar lamps to place in your yard to light up the night, realize their limitations.

As you might imagine, solar lights work best when they get constant exposure to strong sunlight. For most homeowners that have never tried solar lights, they will soon discover that the bright light they expected does not materialize. The placement of the solar lamps is incredibly important. If they do not get enough sun during the day, they will not glow at night.

You may get plenty of sun in one area of your property, but need the light in a different area. You may have a garden that you'd like to light up at night, but tree coverage blocks much of the direct sunlight. The solution to the problem lies in proper planning before you buy solar lights.

The region of the country has a lot to do with how well your solar lights will work. If you happen to live out in the desert where the sun beats down almost every day of the year, your lights will probably work quite well. If, however, you live in an area where there are cold winters with short days and little sunlight, your solar lights will not get enough energy and will not light very well after dark.

Technology has not been able to solve the problem of collecting, storing and dissipating energy to provide a steady, uninterrupted beam of solar light. More expensive units do tend to perform a little better, but they can not match the consistency of other lighting alternatives like low voltage lighting.

It is very rare to see professionally landscaped property lit up at night by solar lights. Instead, electric flood and spot lights are used to light up the flowers, trees and other areas for night time enjoyment.

Like a hybrid car, solar lights would work best if they were equipped with a secondary source of power like a battery. That way, when there was not enough sun, the battery could take over and help keep the light burning bright.