Decorative solar light

Lighting up your spaces used to involve lots of wiring for power and expensive outdoor lights that always seemed too expensive for most of us living on a tight budget. It was always seen as a luxury and  we let our outdoor spaces go mostly unused when darkness fall.

The low energy consumption of LED’s that use so little power that a small solar panel  can be used to power them. In effect this has made your garden lights portable, no need for complex electrical wiring and if you don’t like the arrangement then they are free to move to a better spot.

Designs are numerous and range from illuminations that can be hidden behind plants to give them an exotic glow in the darker evening all the way to lighting for your patio tables which are idea for that late night barbeque.

Driveways or paths are other areas that might be suitable for lighting. Specifically designed path lights make this as easy with no wiring involved. Just simply place them were you want whenever you want.

During daylight the solar panels on these lights keep rechargeable batteries charged up and this happens constantly and automatically without you having to do anything. As night falls light sensors detect the darkness and the lights turn on even when your not at home.

As the LED Lights use  small voltages there is little risk of danger from electric shock. The are even safe around kids and pets.

The savings you will make in energy costs might be around a few hundred dollars a year which is not really much. On the other hand these illuminations do open up the possibilities of creating a pleasuring space or garden that you can enjoy.

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Not all are good or practical to use and others just cost too much to be cost effective. Some of the better advancements and designs are listed below.

The fist one on the list  is extremely useful and takes the the design of the old kerosene lantern in to the 21 century. Named The Kiran ‘Ray of Light’ in Hindi, this lantern does away with the dangers of the old oil lamps along with the smell of the fuel and replaced it with a batter and a solar panel. Both the panel and battery are fully integrated in to the lamp and refuelling just needs exposure to sunlight. Needing around 8 hours exposure to sunlight to fully charge and capable of giving out another 8 hours of use on the low setting, high illumination setting reduces this to 4 hours. Designed by D.Light this practical lamp sits well in their range of other practical solar lights. D.Light have managed to produce this lamp for as little as US$10 with makes it ideal for developing countries and aid programs. It will also be perfect for use in any home or camping trip.

Decorative lighting is also coming of age and as well as opening new areas for solar they are also replacing old syles. The Candle orb gets a makeover here, completely eliminating the naked flam and whiffs of candle was as it burns down. these lights should be practically indistinguishable from the real thing. Charged by sunlight during the day these lights will emit a glow onto your table for the evenings romantic, and safer, meal. These also run for around 8 hours giving out clean solar light. The pictured lamp is from GreenFingers and costs around US$20. There lamp designs provide a safer and cleaner way to add that romance to a garden table and could look as equally at home on any outdoor restaurant table.

Solar lighting is also opening up new decorative avenues to explore. While you sit at your table with your solar candle orb we can also go one step further and introduce the solar powered drinks coaster. Hopefully you are a slow drinker as you can enjoy using theses coasters for up to 6 hours. Providing a glow that cycles through a range of colures might not be to everyone’s taste or they might just be up your street. But they do show that these low energy LED illumination and solar can provide a much safer and low carbon range of updates to existing products. As new ideas that were previously not practical until the efficiency of the electronics advances will soon be glowing around in our every days lives.

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