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Ways to Use Solar Lights

Divya Bichu
The heat and light energy of the sun is harnessed to provide illumination through the use of solar lights. This passive technology of using solar energy is gaining popularity in most countries. Find ways to use solar lights in this post.
Solar energy is the buzzword today, to light up your home or assets. Although you have many choices to light up your homes, having solar lights are a fantastic way to save electricity and most importantly, it is cost-effective.
Although there are few limitations to the use of solar lighting, it can definitely be used for small applications like garden lighting, walkway lighting and so on.
The installation of solar lights does not involve laying wires or power points. The only drawback is that these lights are not as bright as regular electricity-powered lights.
The brighter the sunlight, the brighter will the solar lights shine. Therefore, when the weather is cloudy, or rainy, these lights are dimly lit. However, the use of these lights can then be restricted to enhance the look of your home or assets.
Every solar light is attached to solar cells or photovoltaic (PV) cells. These cells absorb sunlight in the form of photons and converts them into electrical energy (direct current) that is stored in batteries, which is then used for illumination.
The PV panel is attached to the lights in most cases, but a separate panel can be used for shady areas. Here, the panel is placed in the area that receives maximum sunlight and is connected by wires to the solar light. Latest versions of solar lights use LED light bulbs. LEDs use less energy, last longer and produce a brighter, clearer light.

Smart Ways to Use Solar Lighting

Garden lighting

To create an amazing ambiance in your garden or backyard, you can consider installing solar lights in your garden.
These solar lights absorb sunlight during the day to produce enough power to charge the battery. A light sensor on these lights, senses the ambient light and automatically turns on the lights. These lights are usually placed close to the ground. They make wonderful garden decorations.

Advertising billboards

Most advertising billboards need to be kept illuminated throughout the night.
Instead of using electricity, which could cost you big bucks, how about using solar lights? They have low operating cost, are easy to install, and could easily serve the purpose of illuminating the billboards. You can also get different lighting effects with these solar lights, such as dim lighting, or shadow effect, for your advertising billboards.

Camping

These kinds of lights are small lantern-like and generally portable. They have a small portable photovoltaic cell or solar cell which converts light energy into electric energy to provide powerful illumination.
The cell has to be charged in the sun all day long for bright illumination. The battery then provides power to the lamp. These lights are often used while camping as they shine brightly.

Street lighting

Using solar lights for street lighting is by far the most popular method.
Many countries are adopting this technology to illuminate streets and highways. These street lights have photo resistors, which change their resistance based on the amount of sunlight it receives. They absorb sunlight during the day and with the help of light sensors, these lights automatically turn on at dusk.

Walkways and pathways

With the use of solar lights you can lit up the walkways and pathways. Usually, these kinds of lights come in square or round shape and shine dimly at night.
Install them along both sides of the route to accentuate your pathways and it would also enable walkers at night to see where they are going. It is definitely a smart way to enhance the beauty of your pathway.

Specialty solar lights
You can use solar-powered lights to highlight a particular tree, shrub, flower or your address board. Moreover, you can create effects with colors, shadows and silhouettes to enhance the lighting effect.
There are many ways to use solar lighting, just place them in a sunny area, so that it harnesses the maximum amount of sunlight and provides bright illumination for longer duration. Moreover, it the best way to fight the current energy crisis. You would be playing a major role in helping the green cause by opting for solar lights in small ways you can!