Use Solar Powered Outdoor Flood Lights to Improve Security For Your Home

I love having solar lights around the home. I love walking outside at night without having to switch lights on because my solar lights are already on, or they will turn on automatically when I walk past. My solar powered flood lights have a motion sensor attached that will turn them on when someone walks by. As well as being convenient for me when I am walking around at night, they help to provide an additional level of security around my home.

Installing a few solar powered motion activated flood lights in some of your outdoor areas can help to improve security around your home. They only turn on when motion is detected, so they are very energy efficient. The advantages of solar energy give you benefits like free energy, easy installation and low environmental impact. Outdoor solar flood lights are a low maintenance form of security for your home. You can install them yourself, just fix them to a wall or roof, and ensure the solar panel is in the sunlight.

There are many areas around your home that can benefit from using these solar powered outdoor flood lights. You can use them at the entrance to your home, to improve the light when you are coming and going. Use them around your deck or patio for outdoor dining and entertaining. Your shed, porch, driveway and paths can also be easily improved with some of these lights. Here are some great solar flood lights you may want to try out.

This Floodlight Solar Powered Motion Activated. 20 Watt Halogen Bulb Security Flood light has a bright 20 Watt quarz-halogen bulb. It has an adjustable sensitivity control, so you can eliminate triggers by small animals, and it automatically turns on by heat or motion. It can be easily mounted to a wall or roof, with no wiring needed.

This Concept SL-100 32 LED Solar Security Light with Motion Detector has 32 LED bulbs that provide a 190ft range. The built-in motion detector will automatically turn the light on when motion is detected, and turn it off again after an amount of time that ca be set by you. It has a white finish of UV protected plastic that is designed for outdoor use. They LED bulbs will last for many years without having to be replaced.

The MAXSA Innovations 40225 Solar-Powered Motion-Activated 80 LED Security Floodlight has a very bright light provided by the 80 LED bulbs. The more LED bulbs your light has, the brighter it will be. This is ideal to cover a larger area like your yard or a long driveway.

The Motion Activated Solar Wedge Light can be mounted just about anywhere you need it. It is ideal for small areas like porch entrances, steps, patios or even on any fence posts. You can even mount it on the side of your RV or camper van.

These are some of the best solar powered flood lights you can use to improve the security around your home. They can provide you with any additional light you may need in your outdoor areas, without adding to your electricity costs. When used together with other solar lights, like solar yard lights and outdoor string lights, they will enhance the appearance and value of your home.

Solar Powered Post Cap Lights and Lamp Post Lights for Your Outdoor Areas

Posted September 26th, 2011 by katael and filed in Solar Lights
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I have already mentioned in several places on this site about the benefits of using solar lights in your outdoor areas, and about the advantages of solar energy. You can use a variety of different solar lights to light up the areas around your home. Here I am going to show you a few different types of solar post lights and maybe you can get a few ideas about how you can use these lights to give your outdoor spaces a unique look.

Using solar post lights for your outdoor lighting is pretty simple. If you are using the post cap lights, then these just fit over the top of your post and are fixed with a couple of screws. As with all lights that are you are fixing to a post, you should measure your post first to make sure it will fit. Most of these lights will fit over a 4×4 post. There is no wiring necessary and it is so easy you can do it yourself in no time. If you go with the lamp post style light then it just needs to be bolted or screwed into into a heavy base to hold it in place.

Solar Post Cap Lights

The Moonrays Solar Powered Plastic Post Cap Lamp Light in black is a great entry level solar post light that is made of a durable plastic and is easy to install. It comes with batteries included and uses LED bulbs. This is an ideal light if you are just starting out and don’t want to spend too much money, or if you need to buy a lot of lights on a budget.

The Moonrays 91248 Solar Powered Plastic Post Cap Lamp Light, Copper finish is a bit more stylish than the one above. It has a metallic brushed copper finish painted onto the plastic which gives it an old world look. This is a great way to change the look of your outdoor areas for a reasonable price.

The Pine Top 511-0007 Four-Light LED Plastic Solar Fence Post Cap, White is a sleek modern design that is a little more expensive than the previous lights. It is available in a white or copper weatherproof finish and has 4 bright LED bulbs inside. These lights are ideal for use as solar deck post lights or on posts that lead to the entrance of your home to help light the way.

You can get this set of Set Of 4 Solar Powered Fence Post Cap Lights Deck if you want to start with several lights at once and save yourself some money. These solar post lights have a modern style and provide a nice bright light. They come with ground stakes so you can just put them into the ground if you don’t have any posts to put them on. Use them as solar fence post lights to light up your property border.

Solar Lamp Post Lights

The Paradise GL23702 Cast Aluminum Solar Streetlight with 12 White LED’s comes with 12 white LED bulbs and is in an old fashioned lamp post design that makes it look like a streetlight. It will add some elegance and enhance the beauty of your home. It is made of cast aluminum with clear glass lens and twelve bright white LED bulbs, with four solar panels to provide a nice bright light. As with other solar lights there is no wiring required and they are easy to install.

The Gamasonic GS-94F LED Solar Lamp with 3-Inch Post Fitter in 19th Century Historic Gas Light Design, Black is a 19th Century historic gas light design. It is also a cast aluminum light that is durable and rust resistant. It comes with super-bright LED bulbs which use a special patented cone reflector to make the light brighter.

You can use some of these outdoor solar post lights to improve your outdoor areas at night. When combined with other types of lights, like solar deck lights and outdoor string lights, you can create an elegant atmosphere around your home while increasing safety and security.

DIY Solar Panels

Do you want to become energy independent and completely off grid, or do you want to reduce your energy usage and save on your power costs? Whatever your reasons, solar energy may be the solution you are looking for. With the rising costs of energy it is becoming more expensive to power your home. With solar energy you will be able to save money on your power bill immediately. The advantages of solar energy are very attractive, but a complete solar energy system can initially cost a lot of money. If you don’t have that kind of money up front, you can reduce your costs with DIY solar panels. Do-it-yourself solar panels for your home are easier to make than might you think. They will reduce your costs considerably, which will result in a quicker payback on your investment. Once your initial investment is recovered, you will save money on your energy bills, or completely eliminate them for the rest of the life of your system.

Harvesting solar energy can be done in a variety of ways with systems of varying size and design. Your motivations for wanting to use solar energy are most likely to do with saving money, but there are other reasons that may appeal to you. Reducing your energy consumption is good for the environment. Solar energy has no harmful emissions, therefore it does not contribute to greenhouse gases and global warming. By using solar energy, you are actively reducing reliance on dirty fossil fuels. Helping the environment and saving money are great reasons to use solar energy. If you have an interest in DIY projects then you can reduce the cost of your system by learning how to make solar panels yourself. Making your own home solar panels will require some initial knowledge and skills, but don’t be put off by this, you can find out all you need online. Here are some basics to get you started.

Solar Panels and Solar Energy
Solar panels are the key to your solar energy system. A solar panel is a collection of individual silicon cells that generate electricity from sunlight. The photons, or light particles, produce an electrical current (DC) as they strike the surface of the thin silicon wafers. A power inverter is used convert the DC power to AC so that you can power your appliances. The power is stored in rechargeable batteries so that you have power even when the sun is not shining. Solar energy can be used around your home on a small scale, like with a few solar lights, or on a large scale, with a complete solar system that will power your entire home.

Tools and Equipment
You will need a manual or instructions for your project, which can be found online. You can pay for a comprehensive instructional program like, Earth4Energy, that will teach you all you need to know. Or you can search online to find the information you need. There are plenty of videos on Youtube for DIY solar panels, this may be enough to help you complete your project. There are a few other things you will need as well:

  • solar panels, 12 or 16 volt, can be purchased on eBay, or from your local supplier, you will probably need 4 to 8 for a small to medium system
  • batteries to store the electrical power that is generated, a lead or acid rechargeable 12 volt battery should do the job
  • a battery box to protect the battery
  • a charge controller to prevent overcharging of the batteries, proper charging will prevent damage and increase the life and performance of the batteries
  • a power inverter to convert the DC power to AC, to power your AC appliances
  • wires and cables to connect everything together
  • handheld drill and bits

Steps
There are a few steps required for making DIY solar panels. The first is planning ahead to ensure you have everything you need. How many solar panels do you need? This will depend on the amount of energy you use in your home and whether you want to completely replace electricity with solar power, or just reduce your electric power usage. You can use past power bills to get an indication of how much you use, and you can also look for ways to reduce your energy usage further. You will need to work out where you are going to put your DIY solar panels. You can have them lying flat on the roof or angled towards the sun, or on the ground in a built enclosure. Once you have everything you need the steps are simple:

  • Build a container to hold the cells and mount them. A simple way to do this is with a ground based frame angled toward the sun. You can also have an adjustable angle mount than can be altered to account for the movement of the sun throughout the year. A more complex, and more expensive, solution is a tracking mount that will automatically follow the sun each day. For most, the simple angled frame will do the job.
  • Connect your solar panels together. You need to wire the solar panels together and attach them to the frame.
  • Test your system before installing it on your roof to ensure it is working as it should.
  • Install your system on the roof, or wherever you want it to go, and connect it to your home. This may be something you need professional help with, or perhaps you can work this out on your own as well.

This is a very simplified version of the steps required, just to give you an idea of what is involved. If you decide to go ahead with your DIY solar panels, you will need the more comprehensive instructions in a manual, or one of the many step-by-step videos available online.

Eco friendly homes use alternative energy sources to reduce energy usage and save money on energy costs. You can enjoy the same benefits with DIY solar panels for a system that will save you money and benefit the environment.

Advantages of Solar Energy

Many of us use solar energy on a daily basis without even realizing it. We use it to dry our clothes, to dry food and to light up and warm our home. We can always do more. Using solar energy for homes is a great start on your journey towards an energy efficient household. There are great advantages of solar energy you should know about to help you make the right choices. Energy conservation or increased energy efficiency in your home is an investment that will continuously pay you back over time. You are far better off if you can save energy rather than buying it.

Solar energy is created by sunlight, radiant light-waves, that can be collected and transformed into power. Solar panels absorb energy from sunlight and transfer it to power that can be used in many different ways. Uses of solar energy include heating spaces, heating water, or as electricity for household appliances. The solar panels are made up of photovoltaic panels that are thin layers of silicon, which is a semi-conductive substance that is able to alter the sun’s energy into electricity.

Solar energy systems can be used in many areas of your home for some great advantages. Heating water and heating the home comprise a major part of energy costs in the average household. This is where solar energy can be used to great advantage. Solar water heating systems can be installed in any home to eliminate the need to use electricity for heating your water. A solar panel system can be installed on the roof of your home, so no new space is required. You can even make your own DIY solar panels to help reduce the cost. There are financial incentives and rebates offered by governments and utility suppliers, so check in your area to see what is available. If you cannot afford a complete solar energy system don’t worry, you can still benefit from the advantages of solar energy by using it for things like solar lights for your outdoor lighting.

Solar energy advantages include using a renewable, alternative solution to powering your home. Solar panels are non polluting, silent with no moving parts, low maintenance, durable and long lasting, and easy to install. After your initial investment has been recovered, the energy is completely free. If you can produce more energy than you need, your utility company may buy it back from you. Solar panels are usually positioned on the roof of your home, but this is not absolutely necessary. The advantages of solar energy are of particular use in remote areas where there is little or no access to electricity.

Solar energy systems may seem like too big an expense for you, but you can start with using passive solar energy to reduce your energy usage. Passive solar energy is using the sun’s energy to your best advantage to reduce the cost of your electricity and heating. If you can reduce your energy consumption it can help you save up enough money so that you can install a full solar energy system for your home. There are some small things you can do that will reduce your energy use:

  • letting more sunlight into your home during the day to help keep it warm inside and to eliminate any need to turn on lights during the day
  • hang your washing outside during the day instead of using the dryer
  • use solar lights for your outdoor lighting to reduce your power bill

All of these things will save your energy and reduce your power costs.

Building eco friendly homes is where you can find the best advantages of solar energy. You can install a solar thermal collector to amplify the heat of the sun and transfer it to water or air. This can be used for a hot water system, or to heat the air inside your home. The more you can utilize solar energy around your home, the more you will reduce your energy usage and save money.

Advantages of solar energy include saving money over time and reducing your energy usage. This will result in fewer harmful emissions entering the atmosphere due to a reduction in your reliance on electricity and other dirty forms of power. Reducing, or eliminating these harmful emissions is a step towards slowing global warming.