Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Solar Powered Landscape Lighting: The First Step to a Perfect Summer Evening

Summer is for evening parties and what can be better venue than your backyard lawn for hosting a cozy gathering with your friends? Proper lighting plays a key role in the success of such parties.

 

Now the question is: what do you mean by the term, proper lighting? Here are four main points to consider:

  • The light should adequately illuminate the place, so that your guests can sit or move around comfortably. This is the functional side of your landscape lighting scheme.
  • On the aesthetic side, the lighting should be such that it rightly accentuates the beauty of the landscape.
  • More importantly, the lighting should be power efficient.
  • The wireless lighting offers a fuss-free way of installation, and that make them more suitable for outdoor use.  

Solar powered landscape lighting is one that helps you meet with all these criteria in one.

  • Solar powered landscape lights offer you the most energy efficient solution. They are virtually free, as they need nothing but clean energy from the sun to run.
  • With solar powered landscape lighting, you are not only cut benefit on the personal plain by saving on energy bills, at the same time you are making valuable contribution in conserving precious environmental resources.
  • It may sound unbelievable, but you will need as little as twenty seconds to install a solar powered light in your outdoor space. Spare fifteen minutes more and you are done with the task of illuminating the entire outdoor space for enjoyment after sundown.
  • With no wiring required, solar powered landscape lighting can be installed even by an inexperienced homeowner. Your task almost ends with locating the proper place of installation of light; after that all you need to do is just plant them in the ground, without needing any cumbersome wiring.
  • In case you need some alteration with your original scheme, it is easy to just pick the lighting fixtures up and replace them.
  • You don’t have to compromise on the aesthetic side too; these solar powered lights are available in variety of styles starting from decorative lanterns to accent lights.

What makes a basic solar light?

  • In a solar powered landscape light, the source of illumination is an LED lamp that is expected to withstand 10,000 hours of usage.
  • The solar panels are made of photo cells that charge up the battery from solar power.  
  • The solar panels need to receive enough sunlight during the day, so that you can get illumination throughout the evening. The rechargeable batteries provide about 8 hours of light at a stretch.
  • These lights come with built-in light sensors that work for automatic turning on and off of the lamp.  

Ideas for creative use of solar powered landscape lights

You have worked hard to give the desired shape to create your dream landscape; now is the time of finishing touch. Add the final polish with a stylish lighting scheme.

  • First locate the places in your garden that requires lighting and use different types of lights for different areas.
  • If you happen to have a pond in your plot, use floating lantern style lamps for an unusual look.
  • In the sitting areas or in the places where foods are served, place the table top solar powered lanterns.
  • It is equally important to lit up driveways and pathways; use pole lamps or pedestal style lanterns here.  Pole lamps are also ideal for illuminating the patios and decks.
  • The solar powered accent lights are also available to decorate the rock sculptures or other architectural attractions in the garden.
  • Use footlights in the corners of edging and fences for a dramatic ambience. For the same effect, you can hide the source of light behind the bushes to bring about a silhouetted view. 

In the end here are some useful facts about solar powered landscape light that may help in your selection.

  • Solar lights come both with ornamented outdoor fixtures, and without them. Select the type according to your plan of using them.
  • Your local garden store can be a great source of solar powered landscape lighting options. If you want to spark off the imagination a little more, surf the internet; the online stores are the ideal place for finding out the products that you are looking for.

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