Solar Lighting Uses and Benefits

In recent years, more and more people have shown an interest in solar lighting. I first discovered and became interested in solar lights in September 2009. Since then, I have done quite a few lighting projects, and a lot of research. In this article, I would like to give a brief overview of the different types of solar lights and some of their uses. Please feel free to click any of the underlined links to find out more information about the related topics.

Solar lights can be broken down into two major categories: outdoor solar lights and indoor solar lights. Each of these categories can also be broken down into subsets. We will explore each of these categories and their sub-categories below.

These are, by far, the most popular and most widely used.
Outdoor solar lights are, as the name would suggest, used outside for various purposes. They are the easiest to install and come with either a solar panel built into the light housing, or a separate panel that connects to the lighting fixture by way of a wire. Almost all of these lights come with a battery (or batteries) that hold the charge created by the solar cells and a sensor that turns them on at night and off during the day.

Outdoor solar lights can be broken down into sub-categories defined by their application:

Solar garden lights - These are also sometimes called "solar yard lights" and are probably the most popular type of solar lights today. Solar garden lights are usually used for aesthetics, to highlight areas of a yard to help beautify the landscaping at night. There are three main varieties of solar garden lights.

• Accent lights - Solar accent lights are the dimmest of the three, but also the most widely used for their ability to cast soft glows to the areas immediately surrounding them. They come in many colors, shapes and sizes - probably more than any other type of solar light, so they can blend in and accent just about any landscape feature. Solar accent lights will usually have the solar panel built directly into the lighting fixture. The light itself comes from LEDs that are usually manufactured to last for upwards of 100,000 hours of use. One may often find these lights placed among shrubbery, in planter boxes, or just about anywhere that requires a soft ambient glow.
  


• Spot lights - Solar spotlights (when used as garden lights) are usually used to highlight specific areas in a home or patio. They often come with a separate solar panel, so that they light fixture itself can be installed in a hidden location. The light is then pointed at the area that requires the highlighting. The effect is a semi-brightly lit tree, bush, or other feature with no apparent lighting source.
  


• Flood lights - Solar flood lights are much like the spot lights above, except that they tend to give a wider band of light over a larger area. One thing to keep in mind when looking for a solar flood light for garden use is that if you are using one equipped with LEDs, the light will not usually be as bright as with conventional lights. If you decide to use a solar flood light with halogen bulbs, the light will not last as long, but will be brighter. Halogen bulbs are much brighter than LEDs, but do not have the efficiency, therefore they require more power. Since they only have the power of the batteries (charged by the solar panel) to operate, expect significantly reduced run times.
  

Solar path lights - Path lights are also a very popular use of solar lights. These are most commonly used along walkways, but can be found in use in other ways as well. Usually you will see solar path lights that have a lighting fixture, with a solar panel on top of it, mounted on a stake that can be driven into the ground. Recently, however there has been an increase in production and sales of what are known as "marker lights". These are light fixtures that mount basically flush wherever you need them. They can be set into concrete or other substrate and go from being completely flush mounted to being a couple of inches high. These types of solar path lights are great for use as driveway lights, patio lights, etc.

Solar patio lights - This isn't really a specific type of solar light, as much as an application. I include it here mainly to show yet another use for outdoor solar lights. Back patios are a very popular place to hold social get-togethers such as pool parties, BBQs, etc. The problem comes when any of these events go into the evening hours where lighting is often scarce. Many people have discovered the advantages of solar lights in this application - using a combination of the different types of lights I mentioned above to bring light to their patios and create a more festive atmosphere for evening events.

Solar security lights - Motion sensing solar security lights have enjoyed a steady increase in popularity over the last few years as people are becoming more and more environmentally conscious. Motion sensing security lights have been popular for quite a long time, but the older models required removing the existing porch light and wiring the new light fixture in place. Not that difficult, and it does save energy over leaving the porch light on all night, or when you are away from home. The problem is that you are still using electricity. With solar security lights, you can remove the old porch light and easily install the new fixture without wiring it to the porch light switch. You can also choose to mount it in a separate location, if you wish, and just leave the porch light alone. Solar security sights come in spot light and flood lights versions. Since they do not stay on continuously, a halogen bulb is fine to use if you want brighter output than LEDs will provide. Keep in mind, however, that the trade off for going with halogen is that you will need to replace the bulb from time to time.

Municipal solar lights - With the growing popularity of solar lights, municipalities have also found uses for them. More and more, we are finding solar street lights, solar crosswalk lights, etc. In fact, my father works for a company that manufactures a complete solar crosswalk system. I made a short video that shows the system in action. You can view that video here.

Indoor solar lights are our second major category. Obviously, if you have your entire house set up on solar power, any lights you have inside fall under this category. Let's look at some of the other options for those of us who don't.

Solar Skylights - These aren't really solar powered lights, per se, but they do light up the inside of your home with the sun, so the warrant inclusion here. A solar skylight is basically a small dome that is installed in the roof, with a large collection tube that connects the dome to a fixture mounted in the ceiling that disperses the light into your home. They are so efficient, that even on a cloudy day, they will light a room nicely. They even come with dimmer switches that allow you to control the amount of light that is allowed into the room.

Portable solar lights - These are solar light fixtures that can be moved from areas with sunlight during the day to darker areas at night. An interesting use of portable solar lights is to have them mounted where they can collect sunlight from your solar skylights during the day, so they will always be powered on and ready to use at night.

Hybrid solar lighting - Hybrid solar lighting technology is one of the most impressive uses of solar energy to date. Due to its expense, it is usually used in commercial buildings. This is how it works. The system begins with a solar collector that looks a bit like a satellite dish. This collector tracks the sun, so it is always pointing directly at it. The collector takes the solar energy and disperses in, in the form of light, along fiber optic tubes. These fiber optic tubes disperse the light to the area needing it. The "hybrid" comes into play with the use of light sensors and low consumption florescent lights. When the light output from the fiber optic tubes becomes too dim, it is enhanced by florescent lighting. During the day, when there is sufficient light energy produced from the collector, the tubes provide all of the lighting. On overcast days, or at night, the lighting will provided partially or completely by the florescent lights.

I believe that I have covered, in least in part, most of the most popular uses for solar lights. If I have forgotten something, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.