Solar Christmas Lights: How they work.

2009-03-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

Do you really want to decorate your home for the holidays, but you do not want to waste energy and contribute to global warming? Well, with solar Christmas lights you can. And the best part is that these lights are free to operate and easy to install.

Technology improvements mean that you can save money and still decorate your home with Christmas lights during the holiday season. And just like all other solar lights, installation is quick and easy. The only caveat is that you must place them in direct sunlight so that the solar panel can collect the sun’s energy and charge the battery. But the great thing is you no longer have to deal with messy extension cords.

Turning on the Lights

Your solar Christmas lights have a sensor that automatically turns on the lights when the sun sets. With a fully charged battery, the lights can run from 9 – 15 hours. On overcast days the battery will probably not receive a full charge so you will probably get 7 -10 hours.

Although solar Christmas lights are a great alternative to traditional electric lights, there are still some drawbacks. They are not available in as many styles as electric lights. The bulb styles are not many. You can pretty much choose from three colors (red, green, and yellow) and a few light bulb styles (oval and teardrop).

External Sources:
Solar Christmas Light Guide
Solar Christmas Lighting Information

Solar Garden Lights: Component and Functionality Guide

2009-03-19T00:29:00.000-07:00

With the advances in the solar industry, it’s very easy and affordable to use solar garden lights to light your landscaping. Solar garden lights use LED (light emitting diode) bulbs that produce a clear and bright light. You won’t be able to tell the difference between solar garden lights and traditional electric lights. And the great thing about them is that you’ll receive a big discount on your lighting bill since they power themselves. You don’t have to use your house electricity to power them, so you don’t have to worry about increasing your monthly electrical bill to while you light your landscaping.

Solar garden light components

Before we get started, let’s cover the basic components of most solar garden light fixtures:
• A plastic case
• A solar cell attached on top
• A single AA Nicad battery
• A controller board
• A LED light bulb
• A photoresistor that acts as a sensor to detect darkness

All of these components are housed within the fixture itself.

Producing the Light

In most solar garden light fixtures, there will be four solar cells wired in series. This will produce about 1.8 volts and a maximum of 100 milliamps after being in full, bright sunshine.

The solar cells are wired through a diode directly to the battery. The battery is a standard AA Nicad battery. It produces about 1.2 volts and stores a maximum of 700 milliamp-hours. The battery fully charges during the day, except during heavy overcast days.

Since there is no more sun at night, the solar cells stop producing power. The photoresistor acts as a sensor and turns on the LED light when the sun has fully set.

The controller board has a three-circuit transistor that allows it to accept power from the solar cell and battery, as well as input form the photoresistor. It turns on the LED light when the photoresistor indicates darkness outside.

The LED light bulb uses about 45 milliamps with the fully charged battery producing about 1.23 volts. It produces about half the light of a candle. This may sound small, but it is more than enough for lighting your landscape. With a fully charged battery, the LED light can operate at full capacity for about 12 hours straight.

External Resources:
Solar Garden Lights Definitions
Solar Garden Lights Guide

Solar Landscape Light Guide

Solar Christmas Lights: How they work.

Solar Garden Lights: Component and Functionality Guide