Solar string lights rely on the sun

Solar power relies on the sun. That’s because the sun is what makes solar power work. You don’t have to be a genius to know this. You also don’t need to be a genius to realize that if you want to use solar string lights you will need the sun’s rays to give you the power to use these ingenious lights. But did you know that you don’t need bright sunshine for them to work? The batteries that power solar lights will charge even on a cloudy day.

Solar string lights are currently very popular as a novel landscaping tool. You can use them to highlight outdoor objects like statues or garden columns, or to line paths and walkways.

You can string them along fences and hedges and drape them across entrances and around doorways. Because they are solar powered, these lights don’t need electricity to make them work, which means no wiring, no trenches for conduits, and no plugs. It also means that you can move them around whenever you want to, which is something you can’t do with electric garden lighting.

Solar string lights are similar in concept to the little lights that people use on Christmas trees. But instead of a string of single bulbs attached to insulated wiring, a whole lot of LED (light emitting diode) bulbs are embedded in clear plastic tubing. When the sun goes down, the lights automatically shine. When the sun rises again, the lights go out. That’s because each light has a sensor that detects sunlight.

Solar string lights come in various lengths, with differing numbers of bulbs. For example you can buy a 39 ft string with 102 little LED bulbs or a 23 ft string with 50 LED bulbs. They also come in different colors, red, blue, green and white being the most popular. So if, for example, you decide to line a fence, you can mix colors or chose a color scheme to match the colors of the flowers you have growing in your garden. If you have a row of trees lining the driveway, you could wrap each one with a single string, lighting up the area in a beautifully novel way.

Solar string lights are supplied with a solar panel that has both a ground stake and wall mounting accessories, so you can choose where to site the panel. An instruction manual tells you exactly how to do this and how close to the lights the panel needs to be. Ideally solar panels should be located where they will get maximum exposure to sunshine even though they will work in dull conditions. Good quality strings work with rechargeable Ni-MH batteries that recharge automatically.

Solar powered Christmas lights aren’t just pretty, they are also environmentally friendly and they cost absolutely nothing to run. You won’t have power bills, you won’t have to replace light bulbs, you won’t have to switch the lights on and off, and there are absolutely no installation or maintenance costs. What could be better? More on outdoor solar lights