Solar Powered
Lights
How Solar energy can light
your garden
Since historical times, people have relied heavily on the utilization of the traditional
fuel sources (mainly fossil fuels such as oil, gas, fuel-wood and coal) for energy production. Later, with the
world’s energy demands escalating steeply and with the fossil-fuel supplies being depleted rapidly, more and more
scientific research was carried out and newer sources of energy began to be invented.
The world shifted its focus from the fossil-fuels (which have a limited stock available to meet our
energy-needs) to the renewable sources of energy such as wind power, hydro power, solar power and even on nuclear
power.
"Solar energy is one of the most environment-friendly and
cost-effective sources of energy"
Solar energy is one of the most environment-friendly and cost-effective
sources of energy, which harnesses the heat, light and the power emitted from the Sun to light up your home as
well as to power other electrical gadgets in your home.
The solar energy is used in such a way that the heat from the Sun is converted into reusable form with the help
of solar-cells and solar panels (in most cases, there is an active solar energy system involved, which helps to
harness the solar energy and store it) and the energy so produced can be used for a variety of purposes such as
–
Heating purpose (mainly water heating, room heating).
Lighting in residential, commercial as well as common areas (lighting public utilities such as streets, gardens,
parks, parking lots, etc).
Cooking (solar cookers were one of the first inventions among all the application areas of solar energy.
Today they are very popular mainly in tropical countries which receive maximum sunshine during mot part of the
year.)
Ventilating
Cooling purpose
Disinfection,
Desalination (large solar powered desalination units are very common these days)
Fueling of solar vehicles (Such solar power-driven vehicles are already out in the market in many countries. They
are specifically designed with solar panels to harness the energy from the sunlight during daytime in order to fuel
these solar vehicles.)
"Solar powered lights are mostly beneficial for such
areas where it is difficult to supply electricity, such as in remote hilly and mountainous
locations"
The principle behind the working of solar lights is quite simple. The
solar panels are positioned in such a manner that they are able to harvest maximum sunlight throughout the
day. These solar panels then convert the harnessed solar energy from the sun into electrical energy, which is
stored in the batteries present inside the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
Automatic controls are used to switch on these LEDs. In fact, these automatic controls (containing a photo cell
which detects the change of luminosity and switch on automatically when night falls) control the timing of the
solar lights.
The solar powered lights are completely dependent on the quality and amount of direct sunlight that is available
throughout the day. Greater is the sunlight received during each day, more is the amount of solar energy produced.
The solar energy produced is therefore dependent on the daily weather fluctuations and on the season (increased
solar energy production during the longer summer months, when there is greater amount of sunshine available and
reduced solar energy production during the shorter and colder winter months).
Solar powered lights are mostly beneficial for such areas where it is difficult to supply electricity, such as
in remote hilly and mountainous locations, where providing electricity through cable lines is too expensive, or in
islands (which is cut off from the mainland by sea on all sides), etc.
You will be surprised with the large varieties of solar lights available in the market today and the wide areas
of application of the solar powered lights, such as – solar lamp posts, solar flood lights, solar fountain lights,
solar powered garden lights, solar pool lights, solar patio lights, solar deck lights, solar path lights, solar
yard lights, etc. Apart from landscape lighting, the application of solar energy fuelled lights also stretch to
more professional areas such as – solar traffic lights, solar traffic signs, solar street lights, solar obstruction
lights (used specifically in airports and on meandering hill-side roads), solar marine lights, etc.
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