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Solar Lights admin | 29 Nov 2010

Buying Solar Wall Lights Questions

Top Four Questions To Ask Before Buying Solar Wall Lights

Due to the vast popularity of solar wall lights, many homeowners have flocked to hardware stores and online retail shops like Amazon just so they could jump into the latest fad in home security. Most of the time, solar lights either don’t get used to their full potential or are declared useless after a few weeks. The problem however, is not with the lights themselves, but with the owners. As with all products, there is such a thing as impulse buying. Sure, a solar wall light would be great, but before you go and purchase one, there are a few questions you might want to ask yourself first.

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First of all, do you really need it, or are you just lured by the notion of not having to pay a single cent in electricity bills? Everybody could use solar wall lights, but it should be proportion to the type of security the home needs. A small house won’t need so many solar lights, and lights should not be used as a substitute for other home security equipment like an alarm system. Purchasing extra lights instead of maybe one or two lights plus an alarm system may not be the smartest of choices.

Second, do you have enough sunlight in the area where you intend to install these solar powered devices? Even with energy saving technology, the basic rule is: no sun, no energy. If your house is blocked by huge buildings and tall trees, then maybe it’s unfortunate, but solar lights might not be the best thing for you. However, if you live in an open area and receive a fair amount of sun each day, then the cost of a light or two is well worth it.

Third, do I have the money for it? Breaking the bank just to buy yourself a solar wall lighting system may not be a smart move. Sure, the technology is great when you hear about it, and sure, the savings you’ll get in your electric bill sound too good to be true, but remember that these lights cost more than your ordinary lighting system. This is an important purchase but try to buy one when you have enough extra money. Security is good, but it is a priority that falls behind food and other daily necessities if there are compromises to be made.

Solar Powered Bright LED Wall Light by Gamasonic:
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Fourth, do I live in a safe neighborhood? This question is not really about whether you need solar lights or not but how much you need. Contrary to what people think, there is such a thing as too much security. A light or two will do; adding too many wall lights may lead criminals to think that you’re loaded and may just target your home because it stands out so much.

If your answers to these questions are yes, then you should go get yourself some solar wall lights. If not, then maybe you can start small – remember solar wall lights are good, as long as you’re getting them for the right reasons.

Solar Lights admin | 18 Nov 2010

Solar Powered Christmas Lights

Be Environmentally Friendly This Holiday Season

white-solar-christmas-lights

The holiday season is a time for enjoyment and some fun. The best way to showcase this energy and fervor would be to decorate your home with as much lights as possible. The presence of new technologies such as the solar powered Christmas lights is seen as a move towards getting your home pretty and helping you save money. The best advantage that many people enjoy with their solar Christmas lights is it helps them save money on their electricity bills.

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Solar powered Christmas lights are becoming more popular as society trends toward greater consciousness for energy conservation and making your Christmas season as environmentally friendly as ever. Simply put, it uses the solar energy of the sun to power up the lights in your tree or around your house. It is normal for many people to adorn their yuletide decorations with huge arrays of lights and ornaments. Most of the time, they use these traditional strings of lights that are so powerful and consume a lot of energy. A usual string of 250 bulbs will also consume around 100 watts of power and significantly increase your electricity consumption for the month. With so many people now being conscious about their expenses, the use of the solar Christmas lights is fast rising as the new generation of innovative decorating practices.

colored-solar-christmas-lights

The usual solar power Christmas lights use LED lamps. LED stands for light emitting diode and the bulb offers brighter and clearer output with significantly lower energy consumption. For a normal string of lights, you have a wide array of colors and lengths to choose from not unlike the way traditional lights are available and this would allow you a wider variety of options when it comes to decorating your home. There is a notion that the solar powered Christmas lights are not as bright as traditional bulb. While that may be true, from a practical standpoint many would often find it hard to differentiate between the electric ones and the solar lights.

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The string of light bulbs is attached and connected to a board where the solar cells are arranged in a panel to capture energy from sun light. The sun is a great source of energy and electricity. With improvements in technology to harness this natural source of power it is quickly becoming a reliable and affordable long term alternative solution. In fact, research has shown that the solar rays of the sun can produce electricity of around 1,000 watts for every square meter of the earth’s surface.

Reasons Why Solar Christmas Lights May Not Work

However, it is still important to note that there may be reasons why these solar powered Christmas lights may not be the perfect solution for everyone. First reason why many are hesitant about the lights is because of the initial costs. As this is a new technology, it will usually cost more than traditional lights that are practically disposable. The normal LED strings of lights of around 40 feet will cost the buyer approximately $35 per string which is still not significantly expensive in absolute terms.

A major disadvantage of solar lights is apparent on days with little or no exposure of sun light. As it relies on the power that is gathered and spread by the lighting system, the lack of the proper recharging source would affect its performance. Accordingly, weather disturbances and problems would often also lead to the fall down and faulty function of the solar powered Christmas lights. As the energy of the lights depends on the sun, the lack of direct and bright sunshine would eventually cause the lights to be dim or not able to shine at all.

In some rare cases, there have been instances that the solar powered Christmas lights encountered overheating. While incandescent electric lights are much more susceptible to over burning, the solar powered lights are also vulnerable with such a reaction. Lastly, the solar lights would often have an entirely different appearance when compared to the electric ones. This includes the adjustments on the brightness and the designs of the bulbs.

Solar Lights admin | 30 Jun 2010

The 5 Most Popular Makers of Solar Lights

The market for solar lights at the consumer level is relatively young. Despite having been available for many years only fairly recently has technological advances made solar lighting a feasible environmentally friendly choice for many homeowners. The most popular makers include companies that specialize in energy conscious lighting, outdoor décor, a cost leader in lighting products and a leader in energy controls.

When people want to know about the top brands of solar lights there is usually a much more functional motive. It is because they are looking to fulfill a particular requirement or need for their outdoor living desires. The most popular by market share is probably Malibu, Westinghouse, Frontgate, Hampton Bay and Intermatic. But what is important is not the brand name on the package, what is important is the brightness, reliability, and effectiveness of these solar lights and related products.

There are some obvious reasons why people are drawn to the notion of wireless solar lighting products for their outdoor décor. For a while there are some hidden problems and restrictions that kept these products from being very popular. Initially the bulbs were dim and batteries were unreliable. The solar panels that collected energy were ineffective and designs choices were limited.

New products that are available today are much more reliable and offer brighter bulbs and greater battery capacity. They are an affordable solution for most budgets and easy to use and install. It is great for accent lighting, walkway lighting as well as specialty purposes like solar Christmas lights and higher demand task lights. This is all possible with improvements in various parts that make up the solar lights.

The first improvement is in the use of LED bulbs. These bulbs offer the brightest in industry standards and generate very little heat so it consumes lower amounts of energy when burning brightly. Since these bulbs don’t burn so bright these bulbs will last very long, sometimes the entirety of the life of the product itself.

Then there is the improvement to the batteries and photovoltaic cells used in the panels which collect sunlight and convert it into useable energy to be stored in the batteries. The improvement in battery capacity combined with greater efficiency in the photovoltaic cells allows the bulbs to remain lit for lengthier periods of time before exhausting the battery.

While the most popular solar light models available to the standard consumer might not match conventional outdoor lighting systems in terms of brightness and even functionality, the technology is definitely getting to the point where the quality and effectiveness offers benefits to the owner at an affordable price. There are also the benefits of not having to tear up the yard to run power lines which are susceptible to being damaged by critters of the night. These are the reasons why the consumer demand for solar lights will continue to push manufacturers to develop better products in the near future.

Solar Lights admin | 30 Jun 2010

When To Throw Out Solar Christmas Lights

There is nothing like the excitement of Christmas creeping up around the corner and the task of untangling your Christmas lights. With the additional use of electricity to run these lights all night comes an increase in your energy bill. This problem can be avoided with solar Christmas lights for your outdoor decorating needs. Solar lights are the way of the future for outdoor lighting solutions especially with the major strides in technological advancement to create more effective, affordable and reliable solar powered lighting products.

Many people do not have a system for managing their Christmas lights and the question of what to do with an old string of lights always comes up every season. The time to throw out conventional Christmas lights depends on your decorating habits. The lights are often cheap enough that you will purchase a new set to avoid having to untangle or figure out where the break is that is causing the rest of the string to be unlit. At that point there is no reason to keep the old lights since you already have your replacement and will probably never get around to using the old set of lights.

This is also true of solar Christmas lights since you will know when to throw it out when you already have replacements in hand. They are typically more expensive than traditional lights but not by much. Since it uses solar power, the savings in energy consumption pays for the product very shortly. More feature-full models offer a lighting level sensor that will switch off the lights when the sun is up and switches the lights on when lighting levels are low enough.

The typical price is about fifteen dollars for a box of 24 lights. If you are decorating something a little larger in scale then a box of 100 lights for thirty dollars might be better suited for your needs. That is where the greater features come in too. The best ones are the solar panels on a stake so you can drive it into the dirt and leave it in a position to take greatest advantage of day light much similar to how typical solar post lights are designed.

Right now you can buy a pack of 60 solar powered Christmas lights for under $20.
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The cons to solar LED Christmas lights is that despite the advance LED bulb technology to provide brighter lamps, it still is often not as bright as traditional lights and are often smaller in size. It can still be a good idea since many people like the fact that it is basically free electricity and the box of lights are relatively affordable compared to traditional Christmas lights making it easy to throw them out and get new ones when necessary.