{"id":476,"date":"2015-12-04T11:17:45","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/night-scenes.com\/?p=476"},"modified":"2015-12-04T11:17:45","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:17:45","slug":"solar-landscape-lighting-now-its-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/night-scenes.com\/2015\/12\/04\/solar-landscape-lighting-now-its-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Landscape Lights?"},"content":{"rendered":"
I am often asked if we would install solar lights. Although I\u2019m thinking many different things at that moment (and unfortunately, very few of those thoughts are positive) I simply smile and say, \u201cAs of now, there is not a solar light available that is worth the money, or will do a very good job enhancing your landscape; so no, I do not install solar landscape lights.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n However, let me say that I am definitely in favor of saving energy, and I think that solar is a great way of producing electricity. And I love the sun \u2013 who doesn\u2019t love the sun?<\/p>\n But so far, every solar light fixture product I have seen is so sub-standard that I can\u2019t risk my own reputation or integrity to stand behind them, to be quite honest. They use very cheap LED chips which give off an ugly blue hue. As color is such an important part of the desired design result, this is unacceptable. They also do not produce enough lumens to actually illuminate anything, including a walkway. The solar path lights seen in many neighborhoods are actually nothing more than walkway markers because all you really see are eerie glowing balls. There is not nearly enough light to create a safe walkway or highlight a step. Sadly, in my experience, solar spot or flood lights are pretty much an industry joke in every aspect.<\/p>\n Why is it that these solar landscape lights just don\u2019t work?<\/p>\n In order for a solar reception panel to collect enough sunlight to power a lighting fixture it has to meet several important criteria: size and direction matter. Because the solar panel on these plastic light fixtures is so small, there is just no way for it to collect, convert and produce an adequate amount of energy to charge the battery which will then operate the LED illuminator with enough lumens to make a difference in the landscape. Then, if you place the fixture in a shady area, or clouds move over it – forget it.<\/p>\n You can get a pretty good idea of the complexities of solar energy production from this article here:\u00a0http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Solar_power<\/a><\/p>\n After getting all of that off of my chest, I can say that there actually\u00a0is\u00a0a way to get great solar powered landscape lighting! I promise that I\u2019m not losing my mind here \u2013 stay with me \u2026.<\/p>\n