How Garden Solar Lights Work
An alternative to paying for electricity that is being utilized by many today is solar lighting. One place in the home in particular where this type of illumination is being used more and more is in the garden. As this area is already outside, it is easy to see why it is a popular locale for lights that are charged by the sun’s powerful rays to reside. But how exactly do garden solar lights work?
The most important element of garden solar lights is what is known as the photovoltaic cell. This cell is what transforms light from the sun into an electrical current and is housed within the solar panel. The size and excellence of this cell directly correlates to the solar panel’s success. Another aspect in determining the effectiveness of the panel is how clear the protective cover is. All three of these factors establish the quality of the resulting solar light.
Generally, the solar cell is the most expensive component within the illuminator as the final output of light depends upon it.
Electricity that has been generated by the photovoltaic cell is stored in rechargeable batteries. These batteries have been directly wired to the solar cells and a diode is placed between the two to make sure that the electric current only courses into the battery. Batteries that have been classified as NiMH are used more often than not because of their charging properties. They can stand up better to numerous charge and discharge rounds and also hold an important environmental advantage when compared to NiCAD batteries. NiMH batteries can be thrown away without any damage being done to the Earth.
Miniature light bulbs known as LEDs (or Light-Emitting Diodes) are used in garden solar lights because they do not need a filament nor do they produce excessive waste heat.
Both of these factors are directly related to the incredibly long lifespan of the lights. Comparatively speaking, LED lights typically last one hundred thousand hours while a standard bulb yields just three thousand. It is easy to see why LED lights are favored in these solar illuminators.
The wiring decides how well the garden solar lights will work. Circuitry is a vital concern as it basically hooks up the cell that captures the sunlight and converts it into usable electricity to the batteries that store that power to the LED bulbs that utilize the electrical energy to convert it into shining beams of light. How well the wiring is set up directly affects the output of illumination.
