SOLAR LIGHTS AND OUTDOOR SOLAR LIGHTING

The concerns regarding electric power costs are on the increase and people are beginning to look at solar lighting again.  The past generations of solar powered lights offered a rather dim and short lived light even on the evening of the sunniest day.  With the technology today the solar lights available are offering lighting options as productive as the rival electric light.

Note worthy improvements to the performance, style and the quality of solar lighting has made solar lights the choice of the back yard as well as a choice for businesses, street lamps and even traffic lights. 

Solar powered lights are moving out of the simple back yard use and being combined with LED (light emitting diode) for solar power security light uses and being considered for traffic signals equipped with solar lamps.

Today’s solar lighting will surprise those who tried solar lights years ago.  Instead of a solar lamp being equipped with mini-incandescent light bulbs, LEDs are being used to offer a brighter more efficient solar lamp.  Further, the efficiency of the newer solar powered devices offered and the life of the solar lamp is greatly expanded, often to a 50,000 hour life or more.

With these prominent improvements, equipping your home as well as your business with a solar power security light, solar lights around the perimeter and even a more high tech interior solar lighting set up can not only offer inexhaustible illumination but a huge cost savings over standard electric lighting options. 

An additional technology that has evolved are batteries; becoming more efficient as well as holding a charge longer.  There are still some solar powered lights that use rechargeable NiCd (nickel cadmium) batteries; these are generally the less expensive or older solar lights.  The growing evolution of solar lighting fixtures are using NiMH (nikel metal hydride) batteries which are the same size but work much better.

The mechanics of the solar lamp allows it to sense when the sun goes down and then switches on.  Generally, solar lights will stay lit for about eight hours after a bright sunny day which makes it effective for most outside purposes. 

A more complex application such as a solar power security light works similarly but the light can often be set to come on when it senses movement. 

Solar power security light fixtures can be effectively used in the home or a business where a standard electric security light would be used providing it is exposed to direct sunlight.

Intermatic offers solar lighting options that uses two LED solar lamps so that it can be switched from low light to high light and vary in length of light power. 

There are also options available for those who need light, such as for security, in an area that does not get much sun light exposure.  A solar power security light can be used in areas without sun exposure by installing a three floodlight kit that has a remote solar panel.  The panel can be mounted in an area that gets sun exposure and then is connected to the floodlights.