Landscaping with solar power gives you a wide variety of different kinds of lighting, Doing your driveway with solar powered light is just one of them

Driveway Solar lights for consumers have been around for many, many years now. Still, however, thereare a number of misconceptions about solar lights and what they will and will not do. Following are some things you should know before you decide to go shopping for solar lights.

Driveway Solar lights make an excellent choice for landscape and outdoor decorative lighting, especially when running 110 volt wiring is impractical. Most of the solar lights used for these purposes are very, very low wattage - some are as low as 1 watt. This means that the batteries that power these solar lights will yield satisfactory results.

Solar lights that give off a lot of light, and in the world of solar lights that's somewhere near a mere 20 watts, require a large battery and a larger solar panel to recharge that battery in a reasonable time frame.Solar lights that do provide 20 watts of light will almost invariably have an automatic shutoff - to turn the solar lights off after 10-20 seconds. This is due to the fact that the battery will not last long at all under the 20 watt demand.

Solar lights will save you money on your electrical bill, but they will likely not save you money. Considering the cost of the solar lights, and the cost of replacing the battery as necessary, running somelow wattage lights on 110 volt house systems will almost invariably work out to be cheaper. Of course, the costs of wiring lights in some locations alters that equation dramatically. If it will cost you $500 to have wiring run to your landscaping, then solar lights will be much cheaper to employ.

Taking into account the manufacturing of solar lights, solar panels and batteries, the use of solar lights is not all that environmentally friendly. There is also the consideration of proper disposal of the exhausted batteries, which is always an environmental and safety concern.

Driveway Solar lights are often an excellent choice for security lighting in remote locations. That is to say, locations where running 110 volt wiring is impractical or cost prohibitive. Security solar lights usually detect motion and turn themselves on for a short period of time: 5-20 seconds. In the consumer's arena, these security solar lights are not very powerful, and will not stay on for very long. The idea being, once these security solar lights come on, any evil-doers will leave for fear of being seen. These solar lights are also excellent for scaring off unwanted animals at night.

If you do install solar lights, here are some tips that will help you get the most out of them:

Install the solar panels where they will be in direct sunlight for as many hours a day as possible. Don't put them under eaves or tree limbs or where building shadows will shade them.

Make sure to keep the solar panels on your solar lights clean and free of debris.

Make a note on your calendar to change the angle of the solar panel on your solar lights so that it aims directly towards the sun for winter and summer. Some people change the angle of the solar panels on their solar lights four times per year.

Test your solar lights annually, to determine if you require a new battery. There's no point in having solar lights if they won't turn on when you need them.

If you intend to use solar lights that are designed so that the solar panel is not attached to the solar light,such as in solar shed lights, be sure that you order solar lights that come with an adequate length of wire to run between where the solar panel must be placed and where the solar lights will be placed.

Landscaping with solar power has many aspects to it and doing your driveway is just one of them. Not only do you save energy and electricity you can have some very beautiful driveway light