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How Solar Garden Lights Work

If ­you have a Garden or Yard and have ever thought about lighting it at night, then you have probably heard about solar Garden lights. Their advantage is that you don't have to run any wiring for them. As long as a location gets direct sunlight, you can put a light there in about 15 seconds.

­These­ lights are extremely interesting because they are almost like mini-satellites. They generate and store their own power during the day and then release it at night. This is just like a satellite that stores solar energy while it is on the sunny side of the planet and then uses that energy when it's on the dark side. In this article, you will learn exactly how it happens!
 

The Basics
A solar light consists of the following components:

  • A plastic or Stainless Steel case
  • A solar cell on top
  • A single AA Nicad battery Some have up to 5
  • A small controller board
  • An LED light source
  • A photoresistor to detect darkness ( now used within the panel )
How Solar Garden Lights Work

Producing Light

If you have read the article How does Solar Work?, you have a basic understanding of solar-cell technology. A solar Garden light uses standard solar cells in a very straightforward application.
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 single solar cell produces a maximum of 0.45 volts and a varying amount of current depending on the size of the cell and the amount of light striking the surface. In a typical Garden light, therefore, you need four Solar "cells" wired in series In this yard light, the four cells will produce 1.8 volts and a maximum of about 100 milliamps in full, bright sunlight.
 
 
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The solar cells are wired directly to the battery through a diode (which prevents the battery's current from flowing back through the solar cell at night). The battery is a completely standard AA Nicad battery. A battery like this produces about 1.2 volts and can store a maximum of approximately 700 milliamp-hours. During the day, the battery charges, reaching maximum charge except on shorter winter days or days when there is heavy overcast.

At night, the solar cells stop producing power. The photoresistor turns on the LED.

 
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The controller board accepts power from the solar cell and battery, as well as input from the photoresistor. It has a three-transistor circuit that turns on the LED when the photoresistor indicates darkness.

So you can see the basics of How a Solar garden Light Works

Now there are many new and bright solar Garden lights available on the market. fsonline.co.uk have some of the highest quality solar lights from Smart Solar with a 1 year warranty, Now thats good ..... And prices that are affordable.

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