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Standalone Solar Lights
If you are putting in a lighted walkway or
want to mark a path, you can do so easily
without running any power wires by using
standalone solar lights.
Solar lights have solar panels on top that
collect energy sunlight during the day in
order to charge internal NiCad batteries.
When a sensor detects darkness, the lamp
illuminates. The light stays lit for a five
or six hours (when the battery runs down),
usually long enough for you to get home from
a night out.
The latest models replace the energy hungry
incandescent bulbs with low-consumption LEDs
which are too dim to do more than shine a
little light near your feet. But at least
they mark the path and add attractive accents
to your yard. Fuller featured lights include
a halogen bulb which does give more light,
but because they drain the battery faster,
they last a shorter time each night.
Because standalone solar lights
have no external
power supply, they are easy to
install and
(if you're not happy with the
first layout)
rearrange. Use them to light
the various
landscape projects you have in
the yard --
a great feature if you want to
rotate the
accents around your yard. Also,
you can use
them for experimenting -- once
you have seen
how these lights look, you can
always transplant
them somewhere else and replace
them with
a traditional wired system for
more light
and permanency. |
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