How To Get The Best From Solar Powered Garden Lights

By Siobhan Birkin

The route to a successful outcome in any project starts by clearly defining the objective, and in that respect installing outdoor solar lighting is no different. Ask yourself whether you want to provide an evening entertainment area, improve security and/or safe access, or simply add an extra visual dimension to your garden at night.

The likelihood is of course that your initial list of requirements will include at least some of these plus a few others for good measure. But by going through this basic planning phase and identifying various zones and possible types of light fitting you will be much better placed to understand how to balance the variety of demands placed on your outdoor solar lighting.

For example, while solar deck lights work well in decks and just about anything else wooden you can think of to attach them to, as a deterrent against intruders they’re really not up to the job. But likewise, using powerful solar floodlights to illuminate your outdoor entertaining area is not going to help create a great ambience, and while low power colored light are pretty and not so “in your face” they’re hopeless if you want your guests to at least see what they’re doing.

Functional (or “task”) lighting as distinct from decorative lighting tends to be relatively easy to get right for the simple reason that it is usually obvious whether or not it performs the intended task. Driveway lighting should allow you to easily navigate the drive, security lighting should switch on in response to movement – such things are simple to test.

Solar garden lighting whose purpose is simply to look attractive might not have to pass any specific “tests” but that doesn’t let it entirely off the hook where guidelines and best practice are concerned. The first point to consider is that solar lighting depends on getting a daily charge from the sun and so they (or their separate solar panel in some systems) need to be positioned in a bright spot.

Second, solar garden lights, even those fitted with high brightness LED bulbs, are almost always not as bright as mains powered garden lights. The reason is simply that they have only the single battery charge to last many hours, whereas mains powered lights have effectively an unlimited of power. However, this feature can be put to very good use in a number of ways, one of which is to densely pack solar lights together for interesting effects that are difficult to achieve with mains lighting.

Thirdly, one of the main attractions of outdoor solar lighting is that it is both extremely easy to install and equally easy to rearrange subsequently. You aren’t stuck with your initial decisions regarding placement and can endlessly try out various arrangements until you settle on one that looks most pleasing to you.

Finally, always keep it in mind that it’s your garden and you can do just about anything you like. There are no rules that say, for instance, you can’t string solar rope light through trees or hang solar lanterns from random branches. If you like it then it’s “correct” and remember that no-one ever made a garden look worse by installing lighting – any lighting is better than no lighting.

If you found this interesting then be sure to check out this additional article that looks at outdoor garden lighting in more detail.

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Topics: Gardening | Comments Off

Tags: garden, garden lighting, Gardening, home, landscape lighting, landscaping, Lighting, outdoor lighting, security lighting, solar, solar deck lights, solar garden lighting, solar lanscape lighting, solar lighting, solar security lights

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