you light up my life — or not - high power solar garden lights

That sounds like a good idea: let the sun of freedom light up your summer and night life.
But have all the solar lights been broken?
One thing is for sure.
They are best sellers.
Frank Turco, manager of Trends and Design at Home Depot, said: "We have seen a significant increase in sales of solar lamps. "
The price is as low as $3.
49 He said that the installation of each type of equipment was the cause of prosperity.
Although Turco did not want to disclose the total sales, he said solar currently accounts for about 75% of the company's gardens and backlight sales. (
The cap lamp is the top decoration around the fence/deck post. .
They are also becoming more and more popular with apartment dwellers, who insert wooden stake lights in flower pots on balconies.
Meanwhile, in IKEA, outdoor lighting this summer is almost entirely solar. -
There's power, and the product is flying off the shelf.
For example, Solvinden has outdoor floors, pendants and toasts. -
The color desk lamp starts at $29. 99.
Many have been sold out.
For vulgar fans, there are solar lights shaped like umbrellas, worms, birds, and a statuette of Queen Elizabeth waving a hand.
However, many people say that inexpensive solar lights do not cut off in important places: safely illuminating roads, highlighting trees and plants, and acting as safety lights.
Bruce Morton, president of Ottawa Green Scenic Area, said: "No one has shown me a design that stores enough energy to provide the amount of light you need in a beautiful design. "
A lawn sprinkler system and landscape lighting company.
All they have is a small light emitting diode emitter, which can light a small tree or a statue in a limited time.
These LED lamps are 25 times brighter than the early solar lamps, which is a new development. They use 90-per-
It's 1 cent less battery power than an incandescent lamp and can last 10 years.
"The great advantage of solar LEDs is that they don't need electricity or wires.
Andrea Mills, a spokeswoman for IKEA Canada, said of the convenience of solar lighting: "You can put outdoor lighting anywhere you want in the backyard or balcony, rather than planning the location of the power outlet and the location of the wiring. "
"And the price is affordable.
"But they're still not bright enough," says David Levin. He owns Ottawa-
Certified irrigation technicians headquartered in David Levin specialize in automatic outdoor watering, lighting and other garden services.
One problem, he said, was-
A small array of solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity.
The other is batteries that store energy: they are too small to store most of it for a long time.
Between weak collection and storage systems, light does not have enough energy to meet the needs of LEDs.
"This technology is useful for big customers, but not for what you buy in stores.
It will take several years.
"A quick inspection of store shelves illustrates this point.
Hampton Bay Solar LED Walking Light, $3.
According to the box, Home Depot collects enough energy per car on sunny days to run for about 10 hours.
However, it only produces 1.
2 lumens, a light measuring unit commonly used in industry.
Hampton Bay 8-
A package of LED landscape lights, including two spotlights, costs $39. 99.
They also throw 1. 2 lumens each.
By contrast, a single 23-
Watt compact fluorescent lamps emit about 1600 lumens. Do the math.
Turco says the biggest customer complaint is that solar lights lack bright light.
This may mean that recently introduced motion detectors using solar energy may not detect much light.
He adds that individual stake lights, usually used in gardens and roads, sometimes emit varying degrees of light. -
Maybe it's because one person gets the sun more directly than another.
Turko suggests dividing them into three or four groups to better illuminate your path.
Be careful when sticking them to the ground.
The Internet is full of complaints about plastic piles being stolen.
Batteries can be used for several years, but not in winter.
It's better to put the lights indoors in cold months.
Finally, in a 2008 consumer report on outdoor lighting, we seem to have insisted on this conclusion: "Solar energy devices provide very weak light.
They are used for decoration, not for lighting.