Sunday, July 5, 2009

Solar Christmas Lights " Brighten Your Holiday without Energy Costs

By John Monsholi

Solar Christmas lights are one of the most low cost Christmas decorations, helping the homeowners to save anywhere from around 100 W per each string of their lights. Another benefit of solar Christmas lights is that they turn on and off on their own, with the aid of a special photo cell making your Christmas even more magical.

One of the advantages of solar Christmas lights is that they eliminate the need of a power outlet. You can decorate any tree in your garden, no matter how far away it is from the house. Decorating your Christmas trees this way is much safer, easier and more cost-effective.

Small solar panels of solar Christmas lights can be conveniently placed on a tree branch or stuck into the ground. The panels usually include four solar cells, a light sensor and a regular rechargeable AA battery. The cells are capable of converting solar energy into regular electricity. A bright and sunny day, will allow the battery to completely recharge.

When looking for solar Christmas lights, it is better to opt for the lights equipped with special polycrystalline solar cells, which allow the lights to emit bright light for hours even after being charged for merely a few hours on a rainy, snowy or an overcast day.

How to calculate how long the lights will shine after the sun goes down? It is actually quite easy. Solar Christmas lights will usually stay on for about one hour at night, after being charged for about one hour in the daytime. Therefore, if the area where you live gets about eight hours of sun per day, you will also get about eight hours of shining lights in the evening.

Solar Christmas lights come in different colors and shapes. The most usual colors include red, yellow, green and blue, while the most common shapes include oval, round and teardrop shapes. The type of the light emitted can also be chosen to your preference, starting from a bright light, and to dim soft light.

There is no need to put down your solar Christmas lights after Christmas is over. You can use these lights to decorate your deck, the pathways, as well as you can use them for different other holidays, such as birthdays and anniversaries.

It is better to opt for solar Christmas lights with a replaceable and rechargeable AA size battery. Such battery will allow you to recharge and to replace the battery yourself in order to continue to get illumination on overcast days. It is better not to opt for lights with lithium batteries, since you will not be able to replace such batteries yourself. Regular AA size batteries can be recharged with a battery charger if they were not fully charged by the sunlight.

Main advantages of solar Christmas lights are that they will allow homeowners to save hundreds of dollars on their electric bills. Other advantages include eliminating the need in electrical outlets, not having to turn the lights on and off, and not having to worry about the wires running across your yard.

A good idea would be to watch your garden for a couple of days prior to placing your solar Christmas lights. You would need to ensure that the area where you want the lights placed, does not have a shadow cast. Furthermore, make sure to place the solar panel of your solar Christmas lights so that it is directly in the sunlight.

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