Landscape Lighting
May 21, 2010
Solar Landscape Lights
Landscape lighting is a subject that many homeowners seem to forget about or just don’t pay much attention to. They fail to realize how the right outside lighting can help them. But really outside landscape lighting is very important and properly placed lights can improve your home’s exterior beauty without much effort. The effect is known as “curb appeal” and it can really help to show off your home, especially at night.
Solar landscape lighting is one of the best options when choosing the right lights for your home’s exterior. They are easy to maintain, don’t require any buried or lose wires, and best of all, they don’t need any electricity from your home- they produce their own. These solar lights are powered by sunlight using solar PV cells in a solar panel array. This means they need direct sunlight to work properly. But even if they don’t, indirect sunlight can provide enough of a charge to power the lights for a few hours. With motion sensor technology available, that is all you may need since they will only come on when needed.
Well-executed solar landscaping lights help to softens the hard edges of your driveway, paths, and foundation all while improving the style of your home and it’s aesthetic appeal. Solar landscape lights can be placed just about anywhere you want. Stairs, decks, railings, pools, patios, and posts are all good examples of places where you might want to have your solar outside lights installed. As long as the area receives some sunlight, it will function just fine. You can even get super small landscape lights that will highlight certain aspects of your yard such as a fountain or tree or whatever you want. Since solar powered lighting doesn’t need any cords or wires, you won’t risk damaging them when ever you need to mow your lawn. Just remember that solar lights tend to be less bright than traditional landscape lighting so keep it in mind when choosing your solar lighting.
Like most lighting today, solar landscape lights come in all sorts of shapes and sizes as well as different functions for each type. You can find tall pathway solar lights for lighting up those dark pathways which will improve usability and safety. At night, it can be difficult to traverse a long driveway or path and solar terrace lighting is a great way to make it to your car safely without tripping or falling over something. Railing or stair lighting for your deck is also very important to your safety and that of your visitors. It is a fact that most patios or decks are used more often at night than at any other time so ensuring that you have the area well lit only makes sense. You wouldn’t want anyone tripping and falling over your deck would you or breaking their neck tripping down your stairs. But that isn’t the only reason to have your home’s exterior well lit.
Good landscape lighting can be a great help in deterring break-ins and burglaries. Solar outside landscaping lights equipped with motion sensor technology can make it difficult to make a stealthy approach which will make would be burglars think twice about breaking in to your home. This is especially true if there is another home nearby that is not as well lit as yours. Combined with an alarm system, outdoor solar lighting for your home is a effective way to provide a safe environment for you and your family.
Think about the facts presented above the next time you are looking to enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home. Solar landscape lighting is really the only way to go when you compare the options with that of traditional lighting systems. With so little maintenance and no electricity required from your home, the only costs you are likely to incur is the initial buying fee.