Solar Lights | ||||||||
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Children Reading Solar Garden Statue
| Solar Garden Stake
| Metal Rain Gauge with Solar Globe
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Garden Armillary with Solar Globe
| Solar Garden Stake
| Solar Pagoda Light
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Lighthouse Solar Light
| Solar Icicle Lights
| Lighthouse Fountain with Solar Light
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Colar Changing Solar Light
| Solar Spot Light Set
| Solar String Light (28 Bulbs)
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Green Low Profile Light
| Low Profile Light - Blue
| Floating Solar Lights
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Solar Animal Totem
| Solar Guardian Gargoyle
| Solar Garden Cherub
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Plastic Solar Light Set of 4
| Chrome Coated Solar Light Set of 4
| White Multi Purpose Accent Light
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White Tulip Solar Light
| Turtle Solar Path Light
| Frog Solar Path Light
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Solar Path Light
| Copper Solar Path Light
| Lighthouse Solar Pathlight
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Solar Lamp Post
| Lighthouse Copper Solar Light
| Copper Solar Lamp Post
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Country Style Solar Lantern
| Solar Lilies
| Stainless Steel Solar Accent Light (Set of 4)
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Solar Accent Light (Set of 3)
| Solar Address Light - Amber
| Solar LED Spot Light
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Solar Shed Light
| Solar Shed Lighting
| Low Profile Solar Accent Light - White
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Low Profile Solar Accent Light - Amber
| Solar House Number Sign
| Solar Patio Umbrella
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LED Rock Light
| Stainless Steel Solar Light
| Copper Finish Solar Light
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Garden Solar Light
| Checkers Solar Gnome
| Solar Mushroom Light
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Gnome Solar Light
| Solar Garden Gnome
| Bird Feeder with Solar Lamp
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Lighthouse Solar Light
| Life Size Garden Gnome with Solar Lantern
| Solar String Light (14 Bulbs)
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Solar LightsUses for Solar LightsThere are many styles and types of solar lights. There are ones that can be staked in the ground along your driveway or around pathways. There are also lights that can be mounted on the side of your porch, patio, house, garage or shed, or wherever you choose. Most of the ones I purchased came with both the stakes and side mounting hardware so you could decide how to display them. There are many different stake lengths available. Some are short, best for around walkways and driveways. Others are post length, best for the end of your driveway. They come in many styles and designs, classic, lantern, modern, oriental, to name a few. There are also decorative statue solar lights to place in your garden. I have found turtles, fairies, frogs, dogs, butterflies and many others. There are also floating solar lights to place in your pond and signs with your house numbers. There are also many color options. The basics are white and yellow lights, but I have also seen red, blue, and purple in yards. Solar lights look very beautiful around gazebos, pavilions, around the edges of patios and gardens. The floating turtle lights and frogs on lily pads are very cute in a small garden pond. They create a soft glow yet still offer enough light to enhance visibility. With a little creativity and proper placement solar lights can greatly enhance your landscaping. I love my solar lights. They offered an affordable solution to lighting my dark yard and for showcasing my garden. I have them placed throughout my garden and along the dark side of my house where there was previously no lighting. They really offer a lot of light. So if you are looking for an affordable solution for outdoor lighting, consider solar lights. They can be found at most major stores like Wal-Mart and Kmart in the home and garden section and any store like Home Depot or Lowe’s. Some online places to find them include www.ltdcommodities.com and www.collectionsetc.com. Collections Etc has a very wide assortment of solar lights including: hanging lanterns, solar garden statues, solar gazing globes, floating solar lights, and solar powered house number signs. History of Solar LightsThe answer is a resounding “no”. Think about it. Even the most rudimentary species of hominid recognized the benefits of sun. Warmth was crucial. As Man moved forward and became a thinking, reasoning, and curious character, he began investigating the world around him and how it could be used to advantage. As early as Ancient Greece, there is evidence that villas were constructed to face the sun in winter, when it was needed most. So it is a reasonable assumption that the first solar “energy” to be used and eventually harnessed was heat. Of course, once they had it, did Man understand what to do with it? Men like Sir John Herschel did. Herschel was a renowned astronomer, mathematician, chemist and photographer. In the 1830s, he and his wife set sail for Africa with the purpose of cataloging the stars of the Southern Hemisphere, while en route. Once there he would depart from a sometimes over-busy scientific life, but never for very long. During their stay in South Africa, the two of them gathered an amazing botanical record including illustrations of the natural fauna. And at some point, Herschel using his creativity and curiosity, created what is called a solar oven that cooked food, entirely through the power of the sun. This rudimentary appliance can still be found in use today, often known as a “hay box”, in which wet hay is packed around a crock of meat and vegetables and left in the sun where heat raises the temperature to cooking levels. Make no mistake, there was interest in solar energy long before a gas shortage. Although oddly enough, some of the first solar inventions began emerging during the industrial revolution, a time when energy and fuel was in plentiful supply. Still, there were a few lone voices who, seeing that resources were not infinite, turned their own energies to harnessing the sun. In 1860, Auguste Mouchout, a French mathematician worried about the future of energy, took a kettle of water and placed it inside a glass box, which was then placed in the sun. When the water boiled, the steam was channeled off and into an engine. So fascinating was this discovery, that he received grants from Napoleon the III to continue his research. But alas, those funds petered out and so did his investigations, once new pockets of coal were found, and fears for the future were pushed to the back of everyone’s minds. Still, his inspiration lived on, and quiet investigations continued into how more power could be gathered and more efficiently. Solar power steamed its way into the 20th century, with more and more scientists investigating the whys and wherefores of producing energy other than heat. By 1954, researchers for Bell Telephone had stumbled on the observation that silicon, a component of sand, gave off sparks, an electrical charge, after sufficient exposure to the sun. In less than ten years, silicon chips were being used to power some of the first exploratory satellites. We had now achieved recognition that the sun could make electricity, or photovoltaics. It wasn’t just a matter of energy produced while the sun shone, it was the charging of batteries that would last even after the sun had gone down. Theoretically, the silicon contained in a ton of sand is capable of generating as much energy as the burning of a half million tons of coal! So why has solar energy not made greater inroads in our major energy needs? As with all things, cost has kept the use of solar energy confined to regions where grants will subsidize the building of solar power plants, which require very different wiring than standard power plants. Currently, the majority of such plants are located in California, as are many of the 10,000 American families whose energy needs are met entirely through solar power. But small gains add up. People have turned from more traditional forms of electrical outdoor lighting for practical and decorative use, and are using the more convenient and increasingly less expensive solar lights. Solar lights for the yard, garden, paths and fountains/ponds are powered by a battery or cell that charges during the day, and can shine for anywhere from 4-12 hours, depending on its capacity. Generally speaking they are auto on/off units that have a sensor to turn them on and off when a certain amount of light from the sky is read. Others will have a manual on/off switch, in case there are times you don’t want the outdoors lit up. It’s even becoming the rage with Christmas decorations, saving not only electrical energy, but yours as well with the turning on and off and remembering to replace bulbs constantly. | ||||||||
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