Decorative street lighting has already become an integral part of not only the New Year holidays. However, such decorations require significant costs for power supply. With the advent of LED light sources and solar panels, this problem has been solved. In this article, we will talk about the main types, advantages and disadvantages of solar-powered LED garlands, and photos of decorative backyard lighting may inspire you to decorate your own home or garden.
Scope of application
Solar-powered LED garlands are widely used to decorate building facades, roofs, windows. In park areas, they decorate trees and bushes, in garden plots - gazebos, open terraces, verandas. Often on the eve of the holidays you can meeton the streets, LED sculptures made of metal mesh, plastic or acrylic. Illumination in the form of stretch marks over the road creates a festive mood. Illuminated stair railings and balconies look great.
Solar-powered garlands are used to illuminate advertising boxes and shop windows. Flashing lights attract the attention of passers-by, which is used for marketing purposes.
Design and principle of operation
Solar-powered LED garlands consist of a polycrystalline photocell, an automatic on/off relay, a storage device, LEDs connected in series or in parallel, and a controller. Some models are also equipped with a motion sensor, decorative shades or a protective housing.
Polycrystalline battery converts the energy of sunlight into electrical energy. Its main advantage is the ability to work effectively even in cloudy weather. It is worth mentioning, however, that on a short cloudy winter day, the charge of the device may not be enough for full illumination at night, and the radiation may be dim. The battery is mounted on the roof or facade of the building in the place of the best exposure to sunlight. Some models have a special foot to secure the device to the ground.
The converted energy is stored in the battery. When fully charged, the device will power the illumination for 8-10 hours.
The relay is designed for automaticcontrol of the garland. The device detects a decrease in the illumination of the surrounding space and turns on the illumination. At dawn, it automatically turns off.
In the design of the garland, LED bulbs are used. They are small in size and consume a minimum of energy, while emitting a bright, even light. One of the advantages of LEDs is the ability to adjust the brightness and color of the illumination. The design, as a rule, involves the parallel connection of several chains of series-connected light bulbs. If one of them burns out, only one circuit is turned off, and the rest continue to work properly.
The controller is designed to regulate the ignition sequence of the lights. It allows you to create smooth, chaotic flicker, waterfall effect and others.
Advantages and disadvantages
Reviews of solar-powered LED garlands made it possible to highlight a number of advantages and disadvantages of such decor.
One of the main advantages of devices is their autonomy. The garland does not need to be connected to the network, to lay wiring. This allows you to hang the illumination anywhere. The device is completely powered by free solar radiation, which significantly reduces energy costs. LEDs do not heat up, which allows you not to be afraid of a fire when installing illumination on trees, wooden or fabric arbors. The combination of LED lamps and moisture-proof braid makes the garlands verydurable. The manufacturer claims that the devices can last up to 10 years. Another advantage of solar-powered LED garlands is the automatic switching on and off of illumination.
Among the shortcomings is the impossibility of repairing a burned-out circuit due to difficulties in restoring the tightness of the device. Also a disadvantage is the dependence on the duration and brightness of sunlight during the daytime.
Views
Manufacturers offer seven main types of solar-powered LED garlands, which can be used to decorate the exterior of the garden plot, city streets and buildings.
Linear. This is a classic model of three or more LED strings connected in parallel. Such a garland is often complemented with decorative rattan or plastic shades: frosted balls, stars, snowflakes, flowers, insects
- Fringe. It is a chain of lights of different lengths hanging from the base. Used to decorate building facades, windows, shop windows, stair railings, road stretch marks.
- Curtain. It looks like a fringe, but the chains are of equal length from 2 to 9 meters. Such garlands look great in shop windows, gazebos, and terraces.
- Grid. As you might guess, the chains of this garland are connected into a mesh fabric. Used to decorate facades, windows, columns.
- Duralight. This is a linear garland in a flexible PVC tube. Such a bodyadditionally protects the LEDs from atmospheric influences. Widely used to illuminate windows, shop windows, facade architectural features, advertising boxes.
"Melting icicles". Such a garland looks like a fringe, but the individual chains of lights are enclosed in PVC tubes. "Icicles" look original on trees, cornices, as a stretch over the road
Sculptures. They are a frame made of metal mesh, acrylic or plastic, inside which LEDs are located
Conclusion
LED solar-powered illumination is widely used for decorating household plots and city streets. A variety of species allows it to be used to illuminate trees, gazebos, facades, sculptural groups, advertising boxes. A large list of advantages and a minimum number of disadvantages have allowed autonomous LED garlands to become the main way to decorate city streets.
