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Environmentally Friendly Garden Solar Lighting
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Solar garden lights are examples of lantern lights that are becoming more and more common as they are trouble-free to fit and of course, do not cost anything to run. There are a wide assortment of solar powered garden lights to pick from including pathway lights, globe lights, lantern lights, hanging lights and lights made in the form of flowers. Several come with a stake to simply fix in the ground. They all use rechargeable batteries which utilize energy from the sun gathered through the daylight hours to charge them and they typically turn on without human intervention at twilight.
Advantages of Solar Garden Lighting
Solar garden lighting do not require any wiring so there are no straggling wires that can be a hazard to kids and animals or that require widespread burying underneath the ground. They are incredibly easy to put in, simply place the post in the ground, or hang them from a suitable tree or post. You can set them to switch on automatically at sundown, and they do not use electricity so they are extremely economical to use once installed.
Disadvantages of Solar Garden Lighting
The chief drawback of solar garden lights are the rechargeable batteries which tend not to be able to amass adequate energy to last throughout the hours of darkness and have to be replaced every couple of years. Also they have only a very small area of solar panels that can only collect a small quantity of light. The power stored gives only a small number of hours of light which tends to decrease as the batteries become old. On the other hand if all you actually want is lighting for an evening they will doubtless be sufficient. The advantage, that they need no wiring or detailed putting in place, turns into a disadvantage, as what is easily installed can be just as easily removed. This makes them exposed to pilfering unless you fasten them in place as you would a conventional wired light.
They make use of solar energy so they need a certain quantity of sunshine to recharge the batteries. They can’t consequently be used in sheltered places, or on walls that are in the shade for part of the daytime. They only work really efficiently when there’s a lot of sunlight so can work poorly through the winter months.
Is Solar Garden Lighting Environmentally Friendly?
In some ways! They do not use electricity, as a result there is no effect on the environment there. They do however use batteries that are rechargeable which must be replaced and disposed of. In general however we would conclude that they are certainly more environmentally friendly than wired lights.
Conclusion
If you require lighting for just a few hours in the evening in part of the garden that is in complete sunshine throughout the daylight hours, solar garden lights would be suitable. Be prepared to swap the batteries every couple of years and if you consider your backyard is vulnerable enough for theft to be an issue you might need to install them into the ground more firmly than normal.
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