Blog | Benefits of Outdoor Solar Lighting

Huge advances have been made in solar powered technology over the past couple of decades, with outdoor lighting one of the top beneficiaries. Gone are the days of that small trickle of light exuded by the very early solar lights, when friends and family struggled to stifle a snigger as you proudly exhibited your latest garden lighting innovation. Outside solar lighting nowadays comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and it is no longer only homes and gardens that can benefit but commercial systems too. From niche garden installations, pathways and cycle tracks to high-beam street and security lighting, outdoor solar lights can meet every requirement – and bring huge benefits too.
So, let’s have a look at some of the most obvious benefits to be accrued from installing outdoor solar lighting – whatever your needs.

Benefits of Outdoor Solar Lights

1. Environmentally friendly

With so much concern about climate change and how we best look after our planet not only for now, but also for future generations, making an investment in solar powered outdoor lighting is an absolute no-brainer. Not only do solar lights immediately reduce your carbon footprint – they are charged by converted energy from the sun – but they are hugely eco-friendly too as a direct result of the materials used in their manufacturing.

The evolution of LED light bulbs over recent years can provide a life span of at least 10 years, reducing the need to constantly replace and dispose of old and dead light bulbs. The latest solar lights are also incredibly energy efficient, requiring a minimum amount of charge to produce a bright white light capable of showing the way, even on the darkest of paths.

2. Health and Safety

Since solar powered lighting is charged directly from the sun, no longer are you required to lay extensive cables and wiring to provide the lighting you need. Whilst tremendous progress has been made in reducing the dangers inherent in laying electricity cables outside – particularly in wet environments – solar powered lighting eliminates this risk entirely. No wiring, no outside plug sockets: simply a highly efficient lighting source which poses no threat whatsoever to young children, pets and other wildlife in the surrounding area.

Solar powered lighting also provides a constant source of illumination during darkness. With many councils in Great Britain now routinely switching off street lighting between the hours of midnight and 5am, outdoor solar lights can bridge this darkness on a constant basis or, on sensor mode, will detect any motion in the immediate vicinity. Recent advances in solar technology mean the best lights will continue to illuminate until dawn the next day when they will automatically recharge. With lights operating throughout the entire year, this can prove a great deterrent to any vandal or burglar: your house will appear inhabited even if you happen to be away and you can head off on holiday with complete peace of mind.

3.  Aesthetics

Solar lighting has moved on enormously since its early days. Lights come in so many classy and attractive designs that, at first glance, no-one would even realise they are powered by anything other than electricity. Undoubtedly there is a design out there to suit even the quirkiest of personal taste. Lights can be used to highlight particular areas: a rock garden, show-stopping shrubbery, even a water feature. And with the flexibility solar lights provide in terms of inbuilt panels, so long as they can access adequate sunlight, you can position them wherever you want without having to worry about laying a cable to that spot – or potentially overloading a circuit. Outdoor solar lighting can of course also provide a solution where the area to be lit is surrounded by dense growth: in such cases, simply invest in lighting with a separate wired solar panel, place the panel in sunlight and locate the light in your desired spot.

4. Cost effective

Whilst some of the most advanced outdoor solar lights can be expensive in terms of the initial outlay, the money you save over the years of service they provide makes them extremely cost effective. Installation is easy and in many cases is something you can do yourself, cutting out the expense of someone doing it for you. With batteries charged directly by the sun, there is no need for any digging, trenching or wiring as would be the case with traditional electric lighting. And of course, you are completely off-grid so no energy costs whatsoever during the life span of your outdoor solar lighting system. With many of the newest solar batteries having a life span of at least ten years, solar lighting really is coming to the forefront across home and commercial installations alike.

5. Low maintenance

Once they have been positioned, solar lights are virtually maintenance-free. The battery charges automatically during daylight hours and then powers the lights from dusk: no need to monitor cables, sockets and the like for wear and tear or damage. No need to angst about leaving the power supply on or how much energy it is using. The most that is required is an occasional check-up – and perhaps a simple wipe over of the solar panel should any residue have fallen on it. Nothing could be easier.

Learn More with Solareye

We hope the above has given you some insight into the amazing benefits to be accrued from installing outdoor solar lighting. At Lakeside Group, through our solareye80 product range we are at the cutting edge of the outdoor solar lighting market with our products again and again providing valuable solutions to councils, properties and commercial buildings up and down the country.

On a full eight-hour charge on a sunny day, our solareye®80 will provide light for over 200 hours: 8 constant days or 2 weeks’ worth of January nights during the darkest time of the year. Our products have the highest rating of Ingress Protection (IP68) making them resistant to water up to a depth of 1.5 metres so there is never any concern of them failing in torrential rain showers or flood conditions.

For an informal chat on how we can help with your outdoor solar lighting requirements, please contact us today.