Amounts in electricity bills are growing exponentially. Perforce, you have to save and look for alternative sources of lighting. This is especially true for owners of country houses and cottages, where lighting is required not only by the internal premises, but also by the local area. Solar-powered street lights will help illuminate and decorate the site. They do not require electricity, laying communications, safe, durable and diverse in design. In the article we will talk about the device, the principle of operation, the advantages, disadvantages of solar-powered lights.
Areas of use
Due to the variety of designs, such lights are suitable for lighting and illumination of various zones. Solar powered lights can be up to 2.5 meters in size. They look like ordinary street lights and can be found in parks and squares. There are also compact models of camping solar-powered lights. They are often equipped with a loop for easy hanging and several lighting modes. The scattered light is suitable for a tent, the directional beam is used to illuminate the road when moving at dusk, and the flashing light is used to attract attention in case of emergency. Such a flashlight is an indispensable thing in a campaign.
Solar-powered luminaires are widely used in the refinement of house sections and building facades. They are suitable for full lighting of the porch, stairs, driveways, porches and arbors. Solar-powered LED lights are very popular for decorating the landscape with decorative lighting.
They decorate sculptural compositions and flower beds, uneven terrain and alpine slides. There are models in a sealed anti-corrosion shell for the decor of pools and ponds. Lanterns floating on the surface of the pond look incredibly beautiful. Trees and shrubs decorated with LED solar lights look amazing . Such compositions create an atmosphere of a mysterious fairy forest inhabited by fairies and other mythical creatures.
Device
The design of all solar-powered lights is similar, but they differ only in their design performance. They consist of the following elements:
- Solar battery. Converts light energy into electrical energy. It can be of different sizes, it all depends on the power of the lamp. The lights for the backlight of the battery are small, almost invisible. The models for lighting roads and parks are large, from 40 cm across.
- Battery. Serves for the accumulation of electrical energy.
- Light-emitting diode. A semiconductor emitting light when an electric current passes through it. LED lamps consume little energy, give good lighting, are safe, do not heat up, and can be used in a wide temperature range.
- Photosensitive element. The device automatically turns on the flashlight when the degree of illumination falls.
- Housing and fasteners. The cases are very diverse: from classic models to the original in the form of flowers, animals, fairy-tale characters. The type of fixture depends on the size and location of the lamp. Installation to the facade is carried out with screws, compact suspended models are equipped with hinges, lawn ones have a shaft and stick directly into the ground.
Principle of operation
During daylight hours, the solar battery converts light energy into electrical energy, which accumulates in the battery. When the degree of illumination of the space falls, the photocell turns on the LED lamp. On a clear sunny day, the device can accumulate enough energy for uninterrupted lighting for 8-10 hours. On a cloudy day, the battery will convert the energy of the scattered light. If the accumulated charge is not enough, the LED will give a dimmer light, and the lighting time will decrease.
Benefits
The main advantages of solar powered home lights include:
- Wide power range. They are suitable both for illumination and for lighting a space with a radius of several meters.
- Autonomy. All structural elements are small in size and fit in one housing. Such lamps do not require communications.
- Automation Solar lights for summer cottages with solar batteries are charged, turn on and off automatically.
- Profitability. Devices consume free light energy from the sun.
- Security. LED lamps do not pollute the environment, consume the clean energy of the sun, do not heat up, are safe for people and animals.
- Ease of care. It is enough to periodically wipe the shade with a damp cloth.
- Durability. All structural elements are in a sealed enclosure that protects them from all weather conditions. They are not afraid of dust, showers, snow, can work at temperatures from -50 to +50 degrees Celsius. With careful handling, solar-powered lights will last up to 10 years.
- Variety of shapes and sizes. A wide range and reasonable prices make it possible to illuminate and decorate the exterior of any scale and style.
disadvantages
Despite the many advantages, solar-powered lights also have disadvantages:
- Dependence on the intensity of solar radiation and the duration of daylight hours. If the device has not had time to fully charge during the day, the night light emitted by the LEDs will be dim.
- Household fixtures can malfunction in very cold weather.
- Inability to repair, despite the simple design. All the functional parts of the flashlight are packed in a sealed enclosure; it will not work to restore the factory tightness after repair. The lamp will become vulnerable to weather conditions and dust, which will very quickly disable it again.
Park
Solar-powered LED park lights are used to illuminate streets, roads, stops, and pedestrian crossings. They are located on a pole up to 2.5 meters high, have a powerful LED and a massive solar panel. As a rule, such lights are stationary.
Front
Front lights are more compact. They carry out lighting of the entrance areas of the premises, gates, access roads. Their design involves mounting on a vertical surface. As a rule, they are installed on the facades of buildings, fences, poles. Less powerful lanterns are used to illuminate staircases, architectural and sculptural compositions.
Garden
Solar-powered garden lights are usually made in the form of posts or pendant lights. With columns you can highlight the paths, recreation area, benches. Usually their height is not more than 70 cm. The ceiling is located on the rod, which is easy to deepen into the ground and just as easily moved to another place.
Pendant lights are used to illuminate arbors and verandas. Trees decorated with pendant lights look very impressive. Such models are equipped with a hinge for hanging. They are light and at any time they can be moved to another place. A variety of hanging models are camping lights.
Lawn
Lawn lamps are intended for decorative illumination of flower beds, rotundas, uneven terrain. There are models in the form of plants, insects, small animals, fairies, gnomes. During the day they are quite invisible, but in the evening they make the flower garden a real work of art. They are fixed, like lanterns, with a rod deepened into the ground. It is recommended to clean lawn lighting for the winter period.
Solar-powered LED lights allow you to illuminate the garden at a minimum cost. They are diverse in design and size, suitable for lighting walkways, gazebos, porches, porches. With the help of solar-powered lamps you can decorate the facades of buildings, sculptural compositions, hedges, trees, alpine slides, pools and ponds.
Such lanterns are completely autonomous, do not require communications, consume the environmentally friendly energy of the sun, are safe for people and animals, are not afraid of moisture and dust, fasting posts and are durable.
Park models of lamps are suitable for lighting squares and roads. A distinctive feature of facade lights is mounting on a vertical surface. Garden lanterns allow you to highlight paths and paths, arbors and verandas.
Lawn lamps are used to decorate flower beds and ponds. A variety of design solutions, simplicity and reliability of the design, cost-effectiveness and low price have made LED lamps with solar batteries a popular means of lighting and decoration of adjoining territories.