Solar lights for driveways are gaining popularity these days, they not only provide light but also guidance to the people for the night time guests who come by automobile or on foot. Some people also integrate the solar driveway lights for the overall security plan for their homes.

These lights not only provide guidance and security but enhance the beauty of your homes which automatically adds value to your property. The biggest attraction of having solar lights is its easy installation and cost, you do not need to dig and run the lines to transmit power to the nearest electrical outlet. This saves lot of money which you would otherwise spend on digging and running of the lines.

Solar lights give you total freedom to place the solar panels and it automatically takes it from the nature, the sun. The more exposure to sunlight means better lights at your home. The solar cells get charged and collect energy from the sunlight during the day, the same power is released during the nights which give power to your LEDs in the lights.

It follows the same pattern like rechargeable batteries at your home and in the long run you save lot of money. Since you do not need to purchase the lights, it ends up in giving you the clean energy as compared to the conventional power and your investment in solar power energy recovers the cost in few years.

Solar post lights offer a great solution to the security plan of your home, by having more lights inside and outside the garden makes it a difficult target for burglars and thieves. The well lit house is not an easy target for burglars, they always look for a house which has less light and the surroundings are dark.

Solar driveways concept is very recent for the outdoor lighting, these lights have become quite popular in recent years due to the technology advancement. The three main obstacles which made solar lights difficult to install have been solved.

Today solar panels are more efficient, the breakthrough gave smaller solar panels to generate more energy even in less light. This means the solar panel can now collect more energy than the older and much larger solar panels which were used earlier.

Improved storage capacity is another area because now solar post lights use lithium and NiCad batteries which hold energy that is to be supplied to the solar panels. This means large quantity of energy can be saved in smaller batteries.

Also these batteries have a long life and do not require either replacement or repairs. Today all the solar post lights use LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), these LEDs are much more efficient than the conventional florescent, incandescent, halogen or any other bulbs.

LEDs have the property of transferring higher percentage of energy into light, which are much higher than any other bulb and there is also no heat generated, these bulbs are longer in size than in other bulbs. These new breakthroughs have made solar light that are small, economical and efficient.

Our life today is overly dependent on electricity; we almost feel incapacitated without electric supply being available at any place. We however hardly ever spare a thought about electricity being not eco-friendly, do we?

Despite all the concern about promoting eco-friendly products and gadgets in our day to day life, we keep using electric power with abandon and thus, albeit unconsciously, defeat this very idea!

Solar technology systems can certainly help; yes this novel technology has been used to produce power systems that can run most gadgets right from TV, sound systems to garden illumination that we use.

In fact, we have to use solar cells to produce power; these convert sunlight into electricity. The gadgets that are used to get power for domestic use comprise panels that are exposed to sunlight and thus act as the receptacles that provide solar radiation to the cells that convert it into electric power.

It may sound somewhat cumbersome but just a look at the actual gadget will satisfy you about their simplicity of arrangement and design. Further, these systems operate silently and need least regular maintenance; installation too is pretty easy.

If well-assembled, solar power systems are long lasting. The most important feature of this way of getting power is that you are deriving it from the perennial source of sunlight that happens to be available free of cost to every individual!

So, once the system is installed in your house, you don’t have to pay for power consumption. Ovens in your kitchens and geysers in baths that consume heavy power and cost you a fortune by way of power bills, are well suited to be run with solar power systems. They also do not cause any mess around the area they are installed at and give an extremely clean look.

You do not have to worry about the location for installing such a system; solar panels are available in a wide variety of sizes and you may pick as per the availability of space in your house. Other than the panels, the systems do not have any bulky parts.

So, the whole solar power system can sit with least obstruction or change to your existing outlay and the benefits can be brought home with least fuss. One important point before you can think of getting electricity through solar systems is that you should be located at a place with enough sunlight through most parts of the year.

It is always advantageous to install these systems on roof tops so that the panels receive sunlight throughout the day time. The government encourages installation of solar systems through grants to real estate developers under Non-profit Affordable Housing Expense Program.

Power is a huge concern worldwide and any alternative source is being promoted to help meet its generation-demand gap. If you are hunting for an economical property, it may be worthwhile looking for one equipped with subsidized home solar power system.

Though if you are the one with some technical orientation, such a system is never a problem to assemble with the help of “do-it-yourself” solar kits. Else, even paying for the technician in getting it installed may be quite worthwhile considering the long term benefits of economy in running power costs.

A home solar power system or a Photovoltaic (PV) system normally includes a series of solar panels consisting of a set of interconnected solar cells, an inverter, a battery and interconnecting wiring. Solar panels can be easily constructed at home as a Do It Yourself (DIY) exercise.

However, sometimes the solar electrical system installed at home does not function properly. Nothing can be more irritating than finding, when one gets up in the morning, the solar panel indicating low pressure even when there is a bright sunshine.

It is even more exasperating to find that the batteries are weak. It is extremely difficult to identify the problem, especially if someone is outside his home and is in a shed on a mountain or in a farmhouse, where additional power from the solar electrical system is absolutely essential.

If assembled properly, solar cells and arrays are highly dependable and can withstand extreme weather conditions and even hailstones, solar panel systems are, luckily, very durable and generally, trouble-free. However, on some occasions they, too, develop some faults.

If such a situation arises, the faults should be located and rectified without any delay; otherwise the other components can also get damaged because of excessive power loads on them. Let us assume that the solar arrays have been functioning efficiently for quite some time and that the lower power generation due to malfunctioning of the solar system occurred all of a sudden and is an unforeseen development.

Unfortunately, this post cannot devote any space to deal with topics on tips to rectify the faults of either controller or inverter. If the solar array system was a purchased one, it may be better to go through the instructions manual and read the troubleshooting tips offered in the diagnostic chapter of the manual.

Alternatively, it is also advisable to contact the dealer or the manufacturer who supplied the system. They would be able to answer all the queries relating to the problem and offer solutions.

On the other hand, if the array is a Do It Yourself (DIY) project, the fault can be easily located and it may not be difficult to get the system back in operation.

However, before checking and rectification work is initiated, taking proper precautions is absolutely essential as the solar array generates electricity. If one is not confident, it is always advisable to seek the services of a professional for assistance.

Troubleshooting A Homemade Solar Energy System

The following guidelines may help to sort out the problem:

1) Take out the power isolation switch or even better, disconnect the terminals of the battery.

2) Inspect the panels to ensure that they are free from dust and leaves. It is a common feature to find heaps of leaves on the surface of solar panel in autumn, particularly if it is a farmhouse or a house on the hills.

3) Verify if there is any new electrical appliance in the house that consumes more power than anticipated.

4) Make sure that no equipment in the house is defective. If an appliance is not working efficiently, it is bound to drain out more power.

5) Ensure that there is no physical damage to either the surface of the solar panel or their configuration.

6) Ensure that the terminals of the battery are not corroded.

7) Make sure that controller and inverter are functioning efficiently and that the connections are intact.

8) Verify the power leads and ensure that wiring is not damaged.

9) Make sure that there are no tree branches on the cables and that entire wiring is intact without any breaks or worn out insulation.

10) Take a look at the roof and ensure that there are no electrocuted animals that may have damaged internal wiring.

11) Ensure that panel output leads are properly connected and are not affected due to corrosion.

12) Finally, disconnect the panels and find out, in bright sun, whether they are generating almost optimum level of electricity.

After checking all the essential parts of the solar electrical system, it is necessary to check the functioning of the panels. For this, the array should be disconnected to find out whether electricity is passing through the output lead properly.

After ensuring that that power supply is good, the performance of controller and inverter should be confirmed, besides checking carefully in-house wiring and various appliances in the house.