Tips for Installing & Maintaining Outdoor Solar Lights

Solar powered light, which traps energy from the sun and converts it into electricity, is a new eco-friendly, energy efficient and safe lighting device that requires no electricity and little maintenance. It can add more lighting where it's needed, such as gardens, porches, streets, parks and more, and accent your favorite landscaping features. Normally, the best outdoor solar lights can last for many years of continuous operation if you install and maintain them properly. To get the most out of your outdoor solar lights, we present some tips for you to improve their lifespan and maintain their excellent performance.

CONTENTS:
How to Install Outdoor Solar Lights?
Tips for Using and Maintaining Outdoor Solar Lights
How to Clean Your Outdoor Solar Lights?

How to Install Outdoor Solar Lights?

When installing solar lights, the most important thing to consider is placement. For solar path lights, each light should keep a close distance along the walkway to ensure the right amount of light so that it's easy & safe to walk at night. Besides, you need to pay attention to whether the installation site of your lights will present an obstacle when people or cars pass by. That means they should be installed where they are visible but won't get in the way. After the setup position is determined, you need to prepare the ground by watering it thoroughly to soften it up, making the light stakes easy to penetrate into the soil.

No matter bury or hang your solar led lights in outdoor spaces, try to avoid installing under grasses, trees, walls or roofs where may shade the solar panels and lower light's output. But this appears to have a small impact on some solar lights because they have adjustable panels, so you can adjust the panel tile angle for the most solar energy. Usually, in the US, the panels should face south and the optimal panels' tilt angle is about 30 degrees in summer and 45 degrees in winter.

Tips for Using and Maintaining Outdoor Solar Lights

Following the above tips to install your solar light is half the battle, and you still need to follow some using and maintenance tips to optimize your lights' performance.

Charge Before Use & Replace the Battery Regularly

We assume you could hardly wait to install the lights once receiving them. However, it’s better to put the light under the direct sunlight for a full charge of 6-8 hours before use, then you'll find it can last 8-10 hours lighting in the dark. Moreover, the rechargeable battery should normally be replaced every two years to maintain its maximum capacity, and even one year for those areas in extreme weather conditions.

Keep Distance with Artificial Light Source

Most outdoor solar lights could detect surrounding light levels and automatically turn on and off by a built-in light sensor. When the amount of light is insufficient, the light will be activated. So your solar light should not be placed close to any lighted artificial light source, or else its sensing feature will be interfered.

Clean Solar Lights Frequently

Since almost all solar lights are designed for outdoor use, it's inevitable that the light panels are covered with dust, leaves, bugs and other dirt that may affect the battery self-charging and shorten the battery life. Thus, regular cleaning is obviously necessary to maintain the excellent performance of the lights. There are mainly three parts that require maintenance, which are the solar panel, the batteries, and the plastic or glass cover.

How to Clean Your Outdoor Solar Lights?

Keeping solar lights clean helps to prolong their lifespan and ensure each part is functioning properly to deliver the highest light output for your front porch, garden, walkway, etc. But how? Just read on!

Cleaning the Panel

Solar light panel is the main medium that extracts light from the sun and converts it into energy, then powers the led bulb or chip to light up any outdoor corners. Use a dry cloth and warm soapy water to wipe the panel surface carefully every 2-3 months. If there is any grime left, pour a small amount of mild detergent on the surface (such as dish soap) and gently scrub with a clean damp cloth and dry it using a dry towel finally.

Remove Battery Corrosion

Provided your light doesn't work right but the panel is completely clean, the battery is likely to oxidize and corrode. The corroded battery need to be removed in time, or it would permanently damage the outdoor solar light. Thus, after checking it is corroded, you have to use a soft brush or fine-grit sandpaper to remove or apply a drop of vinegar to all the corroded spots. Then, re-install the battery to use, but if your solar light doesn’t work after cleaning, you may need to replace a new one.

Cleaning the Light Cover

Just as most LED bulbs are protected with light fixtures, solar outdoor lights are designed with transparent light covers that shield them from the external environment. If it gets dirtier, the light they emit will not be bright enough, the cleaning way is identical to that of the solar panel.

Using these helpful tips shared in this post, you would get years of use out of your solar landscape lights, solar path lights and other led solar lights you use outdoors. Thank you for reading and hope for your help!

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