Introduction To Solar Power Lights

Solar power lights are a great option for your home. They help take the burden off your electric bill and help you harness the power of the sun. There are many solar power light options, some of them quite intricate in design. Here I want to discuss 2 simple lighting options for your home: Solar power LED’s and compact fluorescent bulbs. Now, you might be wondering why I’m including fluorescent bulbs in a discussion about solar lights, since they aren’t solar powered, but I’ve found that the effect fluorescent bulbs can have on your energy demands is so great that I felt the need to include them here.

Solar LED Lights

Solar LED lights, which stands for Light Emitting Diodes, can turn themselves on when it gets dark and turn themselves off at first light, and they do not require a timer. They’re great because they can take their power from the sun during the day and offer light at night. These types of lights are often used for lighting up a garden, walkways, and other places you would like to add nighttime ambiance to your landscape.

It’s important to realize that an LED light is not the same as a light bulb. Rather, an LED is a light-emitting chip surrounded by crystal clear solid resin. LEDs give off the whole spectrum of light, which means they contain all the light frequencies that daylight does. This is vital because humans were created to depend on these “complete” light sources. In those times our intake of proper lighting is not sufficient, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) syndrome often develops. This is very common in areas where daylight hours are just a few hours for some of the year, or for those in other parts of the world who are prone to live much of their day under partial-spectrum lights.

Advantages of using solar lights in your home

Here are a few reasons solar energy lights should be considered by everyone:

  • The use minimal energy
  • They are highly efficient with the energy they do use
  • They have a high level of luminosity
  • As explained above, you can expect a long operating lifetime

You can expect high quality lighting with a reasonable investment. Furthermore, they are suitable for any application.

Compact Fluorescent Lights

Compact fluorescent lights can save you a lot of money, while helping the environment. Combining compact fluorescent lights with solar energy system can a powerful combination, even if the bulbs cost more than standard bulbs. Over the long run, compact fluorescent bulbs require much less energy and last much longer. This makes them a better investment than standard bulbs.

Many people don’t like compact fluorescent bulbs because of the light they put off. For a long time these light bulbs gave off a harsh white light that wasn’t pleasant to the eyes, especially compared to the warm light of the incandescent bulbs everyone was used to. So, many people stopped using these bulbs and went back to incandescent lights. Which is unfortunate, because incandescent bulbs are extremely inefficient. But fortunately today that’s changed. They have fluorescent bulbs that give off a much warmer light that is virtually identical to incandescent bulbs, which is great because they use a lot less energy! So you can get great light and energy savings all at the same time.

For the most part, you will find they will give you between 10 and 15 times longer service than standard light bulbs and use only 25% of the energy. That means that 4 fluorescent bulbs use the same power as one incandescent bulb.

The average homeowner would conserve more electricity than they realize, with only four compact fluorescent lights in their home. According to one calculation, four bulbs would prevent 1072 lbs of carbon dioxide from being dumped into the atmosphere.

As you can see, solar power lights and compact fluorescent lights can have a dramatic impact on your energy consumption. These little options can go a long way in lowering your electric costs and helping to keep the environment green.