I am testing these solar powered garden lights for Cool Stuff.
I love the idea of solar power and I would gladly have those big plates on the roof to capture the energy of the sun, the thing is you have to have something actual to power with it, like a pool, you cant just plug it in and save on your regular power bill. Bummer. :(
So here is a practical use for the suns power, to make light when there is no light.
The lights are really nice, they have several settings, so you can have steady lights, blinking lights in several ways and my favourite, starlight, it kind of twinkles in a soothing way. It was really easy to put together and mount. You get the aded bonus of not having to stretch electrical cords all over your garden and also you don't have to plan the lights close to the electrical sockets. It starts by itself when it gets dark and turns it self off when it gets light or when the power runs out.
One negative though; Sweden does not have lots of light in the winter, so it glows with whatever energy it has collected during the day. Some days when the sun has been shining that is maybe 4 to 6 hours and some days when it has been cloudy it only shines for an hour or so. If there is several cloudy days it might not have the energy to start at all.
I love it the days it is shining and I like it less the days it is not.
I like to come home to the twinkling lights in the evening. Perhaps we should add that the lights turn themselves on when it gets dark and off when the light comes (or when the battery runs out).
ReplyDeleteYou also need to take care to remove any snow from the solar panel.