The Advantages of Outside Solar Lantern Lights
Solar garden lights are examples of lantern lights that are becoming ever more common as they are trouble-free to fit and will not cost you anything to run. There are a wide range of solar powered garden lights to select from including pathway lights, globe lights, lantern lights, hanging lights and lighting made in the shape of flowers. Several come with a post to simply plant in the ground. They all come with rechargeable batteries which draw on solar energy collected during the day to charge them and they generally come on without human intervention at dusk.
Some Advantages of Solar Garden Lights
Solar garden lights do not need any wiring so there are no straggling wires that can be a hazard to family and pets or that require widespread burying underground. They are incredibly simple to install, just place the stake in the ground, or suspend them from an appropriate post or tree. They can be set to switch on automatically at twilight, and they don’t use any current so they are extremely cheap to run once in place.
Some Disadvantages of Solar Garden Lighting
The major drawback of solar garden lights are the rechargeable batteries which are generally not able to amass sufficient energy to last throughout the night and must be changed every few years. Furthermore they have only a very small area of solar panels that can only collect a small quantity of sunlight. The power stored gives only a small number of hours of illumination which tends to reduce as the batteries age. Nevertheless if all you actually want is lighting for an evening they will probably be adequate. The benefit, that they need no wiring or detailed installation, turns into a shortcoming, as what is easily set in place can be just as easily detached. This makes them susceptible to stealing unless you fasten them in position as you would a conventional wired light.
They draw on energy from the sun so they need a certain amount of sunshine to recharge the batteries. They cannot consequently be used in sheltered places, or on walls that are in the shade for part of the daytime. They only work really well when there’s a lot of daylight so can perform poorly through the winter months.
Is Solar Garden Lighting Environmentally Friendly?
Well, partially! They do not use any electricity, so there is no effect on the environment there. They do however use batteries that are rechargeable which must be replaced and disposed of. However we would say that they are definitely more environmentally friendly than wired lights.
Conclusion
If you need lights for only a small number of hours in the evening in part of the garden that is in complete sunshine during the daylight hours, solar garden lighting would be suitable. Be ready to swap the batteries every couple of years and if you consider your garden is vulnerable enough for theft to be an issue you might want to install them in place more firmly than usual.
Tags: outdoor lantern lights, solar garden lighting, solar garden lights, solar lantern lights, solar powered garden lights
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