For years installing lights in your garden has meant tedious work. Digging trenches for power lines and having outdoor electrical boxes installed were only the beginning. Now though, with the lowering of prices of solar powered garden lights, brightening up your garden can be fun and easy. Without any electrical hookups to your house, placing and installing these types of lights can usually be done in less than a half hour. There are a few styles to choose from; self contained units, chained units, and lighted garden art. Self contained units have a solar panel on each light, chained units have only one solar panel and are connected by wiring to the lights and lighted garden art can vary from either being self contained or chained depending on the style. Here we will explore the pluses and minuses of each style and hopefully help you make your next garden lights powered by the sun.

When solar powered garden lights are self contained units it means, that each light will have its own little solar panel. This is a wonderful concept since it allows you to easily walk around your garden and simply, place your lights. They have self contained stake lights that you can literally just “stick in the ground” and as long as the sun is shining on them there is no more work to do! Another version is the self contained solar powered fence post cap. This style allows you to add light from a taller source in your garden and greatly dresses up a normal wooden or PVC fence post. Self contained units come in a plethora of styles, stakes and fence post toppers are just two of many. From solar lighted rocks to Japanese style lanterns the choices in this type of light are almost endless with the only restriction being just having enough sun to charge them.

The only problem people run into using solar powered garden lights is not being able to capture enough sun. When placing the self contained units they each must have direct sunlight which is a limiting factor in their placement. This is where chained units stand in and shine. Because there is only one solar panel for the entire chain of lights, you are given more freedom from the sun. You are allowed to place these lights under shrubs and trees as long as you place the panel in a well sun lit area. Now with this freedom does come the burden of wires again. To correctly install these lights you should bury the electrical cord connecting each light to insure that no person or pet will trip over the wires and break your new exciting garden lights. Chained lights offer more options for locations and come in almost every style that the self contained units can be found in, they end up a little more work but most people would agree the extra freedom is worth it.

Though the options of solar powered garden lights are seemingly endless, the introduction of solar powered garden art has again offered a whole new world of variety. Solar powered garden art is only limited by an artist's imagination. From lighted glass globes to glowing bugs and animals this new solar power light industry is offering new products continually. Now being solar powered you must be careful, watching where the solar panel is placed on each piece of art. They still need to be in direct sunlight to get the full effect of your solar light! Lastly, one tip that will help every one of these styles of solar lights is, cleaning the solar panels regularly to insure the longest lift of each light.