Snow and solar Christmas lights

It might seem ironic to think that Christmas lights can be powered by the sun, especially when it’s snowing outside. The thing is that solar Christmas lights work from a battery that is powered by sunlight. So even if it’s snowing, chances are there’s still a little bit of solar energy around. If not, it’ll get right back to work once it stops snowing.

Solar Christmas lights are currently the rage in both hot and cold-Christmas climate countries. They’re just so easy and they look quite delightful on the Christmas tree. There are various types, but what they have in common is that they are sold as a string or on a rope. Some are encased in a thin plastic sleeve making them flexible and waterproof, which means you can use them in the garden as well.

Unlike old fashioned Christmas lights that had to be plugged into a power point to pull electricity off the grid, solar Christmas lights get their energy free from the sun. During the day solar cells automatically gather this free energy, and store it in batteries. When the sun goes down and there isn’t any more light, the lights switch themselves on. When the sun rises again - even if it’s dark and gloomy and snowing outside - the lights will switch off.

This also means that you can move your solar string lights around. There’s no difficult installation involved and certainly no digging of trenches and laying of conduits. Decorate the Christmas tree one day and then use them to illuminate the patio the next. They are also completely maintenance free.

Most solar Christmas lights are fitted with extra-bright LEDs which are bulbs that are made with light emitting diodes. These operate electronically and use up a miniscule amount of electric current. Do you remember old fashioned colored fairy lights? These were mostly incandescent light bulbs that relied on the glass protecting the filament inside for their color. In other words they were bulbs made with colored glass. Somehow they now make LEDs in different colors without having to change the color of the glass. It’s so much more effective.

The switch to solar lighting has been quite a gradual one worldwide, largely because of cost. Whilst solar has always been cheaper to run, it was initially expensive to install. But when you’re talking about solar Christmas lights, cost is not an issue. There’s no expensive equipment needed to get them going. Kits come with a solar panel or photovoltaic cells that convert the energy from the sun. You even get all the hardware you need to mount the panel. And an instruction manual tells you exactly what to do.

Have a look to see what kinds of lights are available in your part of the world and on the Internet. You’ll find they come in different shapes and sizes and in different colors as well. The most popular colors fit the Christmas theme perfectly, being snow white, grass or holly green, berry red and blue. Happy Christmas! More on outdoor solar lights