Light Camping Fishing

Solar Lights for Safety and Security

What are Solar lights?

When one thinks of a solar light the type that springs to mind is the little ones commonly seen staked into lawns and gardens as decorative features. They typically have a distinctive mushroom-like design with a small solar panel atop a black plastic or chromed body mounted on a stake, usually several in a row along a lawn or garden edge.

How does it work?

The most basic solar light unit is composed of a small solar panel that charges up a small battery similar to those used in many battery-powered gadgets. The battery is used to provide the power to light an LED (Light emitting diode).Of course the light is not needed during daylight hours so it is controlled by a switching circuit activated by a photocell that switches the LED light on at dusk and off at dawn.

How do you test a solar light?

The photocell - technically know as a photo resistor - is the little round dot next to the solar cell. You can test a solar light by covering the dot with you thumb, the light will come on and go off again again when you expose it to light. Most solar powered LED lights operate this way if designed to switch on and off automatically.

How are they constructed?

Construction consists of a solar panel and photo-cell mounted on top of a sealed compartment that holds the battery and electronic components. The LED light is situated in a clear plastic housing beneath the battery box and the complete unit is usually mounted on a stake that is inserted into the ground. There are many variations of this set up but they all work on the same principle. These small solar lights are used as decorative lights to highlight a garden feature at night. There is a great variety of decorative styles available, most types are mounted on metal stakes to be stuck into lawns and garden areas for feature lighting, others can be fixed as wall lights or hung from eaves or railings

Solar lights are suitable for are lighting

Larger solar powered lighting units using similar construction are used for lighting pathways, driveways and steps at night to improve safety and security around the home. The power output of these units are much greater so as to provide significant area lighting, because they are used for illumination and not just feature illumination, they need to be substantially more powerful and reliable.

Bigger solar panels and brighter LED lights.

Therefore they have larger solar panels to recharge bigger batteries which are required to power larger and brighter LEDs that consume more power to provide a brighter light. They are encased in weatherproof plastic or stainless steel to withstand the elements and will provide years of reliable use, possibly with the exception of renewing the batteries. So when you next think of solar lights think bigger an better, technology is is improving rapidly and the possible applications of solar lighting are endless.

Solar lights for camping and outdoors

Solar companies now even provide portable solar lights for camping, fishing and outdoors, a great innovation that deserves encouragement, after all why use noisy generators when you could be using clean green solar power and lights.

About the Author

John is a technical consultant for Ecopia SolarBarn Australian portable solar power . He has a background is in engineering and an interest in solar power and wind energy.

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