One of the basic necessities for a human being to live is to have a electricity or power that they can use every day in their life. Electricity is used in so many ways like cooking food, washing clothes, charging your mobile phones, and most especially providing light for the whole home. It would be hard for us, humans, to move and go on with our life without light. There are a lot of areas in the Philippines, especially in the provinces that doesn’t have electricity. With the new and innovative way of solar powered lights, they can finally have their own electricity source they can use every day.
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Solar Panel system provides power and illumination to areas around the globe where electricity is unreachable. These can also be because grid power is costly to reach those areas. For the case here in the Philippines, those are the provinces that are hard to reach in the mountains or across the sea. Solar-powered lights are a great alternative and a greener option for our environment. It is also cost effective as you just need production and installation cost for it.
Benefits of Choosing Solar Powered Lights
Having solar powered lights at home can be costly at first than just having regular power electricity supply but when once we know the benefits of solar lights, it can give more valid reasons why we should invest on this. Here are the reasons on why we should invest on solar lights.
1. Renewable
It can be recharged or renewed over the sun. The sun always shines in a day and this is where we’d be able to charge the solar panels free of charge. Once these are installed in your home or office, you are sure that your place is always lit and have power. When some power interruptions happen around your neighborhood, it is guaranteed that your place will still have power as long as the solar panels are charged throughout the day and it will do its job.
2. Mobility
With solar panels, you can bring it where ever you are. There is no need to plug it in the power outlets to produce lights and power. You will be able to position the panels anywhere in your home as long as it will be able to charge properly and gets enough sunlight throughout the day. There are also smaller options for the lights that you can just stick it to ground to produce light at night when needed or even hold it while you go out for a walk in your neighborhood with your dogs. It will be as mobile and light as possible depending on your needs.
3. Environmentally friendly
Solar lights are environmentally friendly as it does not emit greenhouse gases such as carbon that is normally produced by the normal power source we have in our homes. These are charged and powered up by the sun, in a natural way. There is no need to think twice for a pricier option of having the usual power source if you have a cheaper option that at same time, you contribute to the health of our environment by reducing the production of these bad gases.
4. Cheaper option
Having solar panels are considered to be an investment. Yes, it is true that buying and installing these are pricey and costly but if you would think for a longer term, it will save you more money. You would not need to pay for a pricy monthly electricity bill because during night time you can be able to use the solar panels for your house hold’s power source. These are powered by the sun, free of charge. You would not need to buy extra outlets, plugs or cords needed to produce light as these will be wireless and easy to use. They are operated and uses rechargeable batteries that can last a long time. It will just have one-time cost for the installation and purchase but when you think of its long term results, it will be more on savings than having the normal power supply.
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5. Low maintenance
The only maintenance you need for the solar panels are changing the batteries every 5-7 years and cleaning it if it becomes dirty. Since it will be installed above your roof or in an outdoor space in where it will need direct sunlight, it will need cleaning up from time to time to preserve its beauty and take care of the panels.
6. Safe
Solar panels are cordless and wireless, unlike the usual light sources we have that makes some one trips over it or being strangled. It is perfectly safe for the family with kids and pets that usually plays with the cords and outlets exposed on the floor. These panels are stand alone and can be placed anywhere without the hassle and thinking that someone might accidently trip over it. They are also not prone to overheating and assured that is perfectly safe wherever you put it.
7. Many options
Solar lights are in the market for a certain period of time and already have evolved to many types. There are available options that you opt in you every need whether it be for your garden, street lights, parking spaces or any outdoor areas. There are also available in the market with different sizes and styles. More and more cities, local areas and even commercial stores are using solar powered street lights because of its benefits.
8. Keeps you away from theft
As discussed, these are cordless and cannot be unplug if some bad guys tried to break in in your home. Solar lights are best to put outside where you can clearer visibility during night time to keep them away and also since its wireless, there is no way that they can unplug it or stop it to knock off the lights.
9. Provides proper lighting
There are times that power usually goes out especially during storms and in bad weather conditions. Solar lights are a better way to give off power and light source for your home rather than sticking to the old and traditional way of using flash lights and candle that are hassle and dangerous at the same time. There is no need to just rely on your local power provider if you have an option to be better and can provide better for your home. You will not need to worry also as it can be charged by the sun every day without worrying of it not charging or it will not produce enough light.
Things We Need to Know About Solar Panels and Solar-Powered Lights
Since solar power is new to others. There are a lot of questions that we need to address and answer to better understand the importance and use of the solar panels and lights. Here are some of the notes we need to know about it:
How do solar panels work?
Solar powered light consists of panels or the photovoltaic cell that help collect and capture the sun’s power and energy during day time which will be stored in a rechargeable batteries that has the power to stop the panels from over charging of the battery bank and which can also determine when there is no sun and can automatically turns on during night time.
How to maintain solar panels?
Since it will placed outdoors, you just need some time to clean the panels and check if the batteries are still working fine. Batteries usually need changing every 5-7 years upon use of the solar panels. Having this kind of power source requires minimal to no maintenance at all as long as it still works properly and still emits the properly energy light source that you need it should be fine.
How long do solar panels last?
Since all things in world depletes and needs updating, solar panels have its end too. Usually the panels can last up to 20 years, batteries needs to be changed with 5-7 years, LED fixtures needs to be changed once it reached 50,000 – 100,000 hours of being used already and its electronic system needs checkups and updating in approximately 5 years. These will all depends on which brand you will purchase and how often you will use it. You can ask your local solar panel providers for this so they can assist you properly and know it all.
Do solar powered lights stay all night long?
There are solar lights that can be able to stay all night depending on the brand that you are getting. There are options and brands that you can be able to set how strong the light it will emit during night or has dim features. There are certain brands also in where you can set time schedules on how strong you want your light on a certain time. They can be all customizable too depending on your need. You just have to choose the right brand and ask them about it before purchasing.
How to take care of the solar powered lights?
Solar lights are usually placed outside of our home to provide lighting needs to an area that is away from the power outlets and requires cords and wires. You just need to clean them when it becomes dirty as there can be molds and muds and also during cold and typhoon days, there are risks that it will break due to high volume of floods or strong winds and can get destroyed by it. Store it a safer place inside your home if needed and if these is a bad weather condition.
The use of Solar Panels in the Philippines
Solar panels are not much used and considered by the families here in the Philippines. Since they are not marketed heavily, people do not know much about its benefits and uses since it is also considered to be costly to buy and install. People tend to look at the short term uses of things but when we learned about of its uses and benefits, it can be a great alternative and should be considered for long term. In the Philippines, we usually see these in our streets and highways but not much on our homes.
Solar panel companies should create more adverse options in where many people can afford to buy one. Due to its benefits for money and benefits to help the environment, we should be able to make a shift and consider having one in our homes. There are a lot of provinces that are not reached by our local power source, and these solar panels are a great option to help them to have their own light in the homes. Hopefully in the coming years to come, the companies would be able to produce more options that the mass can afford easily and becomes the number one source of electricity in the home. With these we can also contribute to lessen the production of the greenhouse gases produced by the local power source we have.
With Bria Homes, you can easily install these solar panels as we have adequate space to install the solar panels at your own home. It can be put in your outdoor spaces, be placed on your roof, or even as an emergency power source to provide an alternative light for the family during night time or during natural disasters in the whole city such as typhoons, flash floods, power interruptions and many more. It can be able to provide many benefits and most especially it can be able to help you save on your monthly electricity bill for a long time. You will be able to purchase your home without breaking the bank as well as it can lessen your monthly bill with the use of solar lights. Consider having the innovative way of life together with Bria Homes.
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Written by Yna Faundo
