Tips for Enhancing Your Solar Lights
The use of solar power has continued to grow in popularity. The biggest advantage of investing in solar powered fixtures is the reduction that they can make on your energy bill by consuming less power. They also require little maintenance aside from the occasional cleaning. Often solar lights feature photocells, so you do not need to worry about turning them on at night or off in the morning. Let's go over some tips to get the most out of solar lights.
It's important to pick the best spot in your lawn when placing your solar light fixture. Find a spot that receives very little, or ideally no, shade throughout the day. This ensures it will receive a full charge by sundown. Make sure the solar panels are not facing east of west. If the panels are facing in either of these directions, you will be missing out on half a day's worth of energy as the sun passes behind the panel. If you live north of the equator, your solar panels should face the south and vice versa for those south of the equator. This placement at a 45 degree tilt up will help maximize the amount of solar energy collected.
It's easy to guess that summer is the best season for solar energy, with its long days and short nights. However, there are ways to help the other 3 seasons increase efficiency. In the springtime, simply cleaning off dust and pollen should be enough. Just be sure you're using a damp paper towel without any type of soap or cleaning solution as those can damage the panels.
Autumn is like spring, with the added chore of clearing off any fallen leaves. Winter is the problem season (shocker) when it comes to solar power since it has shorter days to charge up and longer nights to power through. Here's a trick that can help increase how much sunlight reaches your solar panels; utilize a mirror. If possible with your setup, attach a mirror parallel to the ground in front of the panel. This allows sunlight that would normally hit the panel directly bounce off the mirror and back into the panel. And, just like the other seasons, you'll need to clear off dust, debris and now snow as needed.
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