Photo by Sandra Parra on Unsplash

(Photo : Sandra Parra on Unsplash)

With environmental awareness at an all-time high worldwide, more and more people are looking for eco-friendly ways to power their houses.

As it turns out, one of the easiest ways to reduce the carbon footprint on the environment is by using Solar Lights.

Solar lights, you ask?

Yes, indeed.

Solar lights rely on photovoltaic effects to absorb the sun's energy and store it in rechargeable batteries. To use solar energy to power your house, you need to install solar panels with Photovoltaic Cells.

While it is possible to reduce carbon footprint by using methods like completely sealing your doors and windows and adding skylights, why not take a step further and install solar lights in your garden?

Solar lighting has become a new norm for commercial and residential property. They use solar light not only to reduce their carbon footprint but also to reduce their monthly utility bill. 

While you must have heard of solar lighting at home, we will talk about solar lighting in the garden. Gardens look great under the daylight, but when the night falls, their beauty is engulfed by the night's dark cover. Using solar light lights, you can brighten your garden and give it a different look.

Importance Of Solar Lighting

Outdoor solar garden lights serve a variety of purposes. It adds style to the house and commercial building, creates a perfect ambiance for any hosted events, and also helps ward off any potential threats.

Whether the reason for using solar light is design, beauty, or just functionality, here are a few ways in which solar lighting adds value to your life.

  • Environment-Friendly: One of the main reasons why people emphasize using solar lighting systems is because they want to save the environment. Solar power helps to reduce carbon footprints by offering clean energy to power lights and appliances.

  • Affordable: The sticker price of a solar lighting system might be high, but that is what you will pay for the next decade. In fact, you will be able to save on the cost of utility bills. After a decade, the whole solar lighting system will become free.

  • Versatile: Since solar garden lighting does not require any electrical wiring, the solar light fixtures come in ready-made design and with the ability to be fixed anywhere without any problem.

  • Unlimited Power Source: Solar lights have unlimited power sources as the sun is not going anywhere. You just need to maintain the solar panels to trap enough heat energy to power your house.

  • Low Maintenance: Talking about maintenance, solar lighting equipment is durable and hardly needs maintenance other than occasional cleaning.

While solar lighting offers many advantages, it is true that they need occasional maintenance. The frequency of the maintenance will depend on where you are living and the weather condition. If you are falling short on maintenance, you will soon find solar garden lights becoming dimmer day by day.

How To Make Solar Lights Brighter

Solar lights are brighter when their LED light receives the amount of power they are intended to. But there have been cases of solar lighting offering lower output even after receiving full power.

This usually happens when the solar garden lighting system is not maintained properly. In that case, here are a few things that you can do to ensure you are getting the bright solar lights.

  • Optimize The Tilt Angle: The tilt angle is important to ensure the solar panel gets most of the sun's rays. The angle of the solar panel should be approximately 30 to 45 degrees to cover the height of the sun throughout the year.

  • Optimize Its Location: The solar panels' location contributes to a solar panel's lifespan. Be mindful of where the solar panels are located. For instance, keeping your solar panel under the shed during the winter will ensure less damage due to cold and snow.

  • Clean The Solar Panel: Occasional cleaning is important. Solar lights might accumulate dirt and debris. And when that happens, it will lose its effectiveness in recharging the battery. To maintain the high performance of your solar battery, clean it regularly.

  • Completely Charge Before Use: It is important that you completely recharge your battery before using it. If the battery is not completely recharged, the brightness of the solar-powered LED lights will be low.

  • Battery Replacements: Battery replacement is an important practice if you want to maintain the maximum capacity. That being said, if you have a long winter in your area, it is advisable that you replace your battery every year.

How To Store Solar Garden Lighting?

Solar garden lights will not work on days when the sun is not coming out. If there is no sun, there is no solar energy. Sun not coming out for a day or two is fine. But. If this extends, it is important that you store your solar lights in a safe place.

You may want to store solar light in sheds or garages over the winter when the sun is not coming out. While you are selecting a place to see your solar light, do not hide them completely away. Instead, keep them in a place where they can receive that occasional glimmering of the sun's rays through the clouds.

If you store your solar light for an extended period of time, let's say for 4 months, they will lose their efficiency. To ensure that doesn't happen, you need to follow a routine cycle of charge/discharge from time to time.

Final Thoughts

If you are thinking of installing solar lighting for your garden, you have certainly taken a greener step. However, there are a few things that you need to know before installing the solar panel.

This article has discussed the things you need to know. Go through the article for a better understanding.

If there is anything you want to know more about solar garden lights, feel free to drop your question in the comment section. And if you have any more suggestions that we can feature in the article, share that as well.

We always love our readers taking part in making the world a better place to live in.