Underground Journal

How practical is solar lighting?

When other energy resources are becoming low, mankind is looking for alternatives and one of those alternatives is solar energy. We are already using this type of energy for many sources because it is easy to collect and we will never run out of it. However, there are still some practical issues with solar sources that run on solar lighting that are in need for improvement. Outdoor solar lighting is becoming very popular for several reasons but the most important ones are that it is good for our environment and we won’t have to use string lights anymore, but is that all true?

Let’s begin with the brightness a solar light emits. In most cases this is barely enough to illuminate a driveway but not enough to illuminate your pathway or walkway. This is not because solar energy is not powerful enough but because the solar collectors on the bulbs are just to small. You would need a much larger solar collector in order to produce the same amount of energy that string lights can produce. The result is that solar lights are used more for decoration instead for functional and practical aspects.

Another problem that exists is that we are dependent on solar light. If there is no sun to shine the batteries of the lights will not get charged and thus not produce enough energy to lit the bulbs. This is especially a problem in countries where there is not that much sun and therefore it is used more in countries where there is a lot of sun. Related to this problem is the fact that you can not place them in to the shadow. The area you want to illuminate will be highly dependent on the possibility of solar lighting to reach those spots. If you live in an area with lots of trees and shadow this could be a serious issue.

Off course we should not forget about all the advantages that this type of lighting brings, but there are still a lot of practical issues that are up for some improvement. Until that time, outdoor solar lighting will mostly be used for aesthetically resources and not for practical ones which means we can not forget about string lighting yet.

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