Solar Powered LED Lights: No Electricity? No Problem!

Hello All! Welcome to my site.  All about the wonderful world of LED lights.  In this post we will talk about bypassing the annoying and expensive hassle of wiring for electric lights and turning to the power of the sun.  Although, as with anything, it has it’s limitations. The obvious one is…well…no sun, no power.  But it still is a great alternative. Enjoy the article.

Harness The Power of the Sun

What are some of the concerns of the DIYer when it comes to planning and executing a project?  Well, for me it’s plumbing and electrical.  You can totally talk yourself out of a project just thinking about ripping down sheetrock, jackhammering concrete, drilling holes, snaking a hundred cables and pipes throughout the house or yard.  It’ll make your head explode! Figuratively speaking of course. I mean… sometimes there’s just no way around it depending on the project.  BUT, at least you can minimize all that craziness by installing solar LED lights.

Depending on where you live, chilling out in your yard paradise wonderland may unfortunately be seasonal.  If you’re REALLY lucky you can have that luxury all year long (minus the rainy days of course).  If you’re pretty lucky you can enjoy the outdoors three out of the four seasons.  BUT, if you’re like me, you really only have 2 seasons.  It seems like spring in the northeast has become shorter and shorter lately. Anyway, the reality is, you obviously need sufficient solar exposure in order for solar LED lighting to fully function.  Don’t fret.  Usually they work great for the time you need them to.  I installed a motion censored solar LED light fixture in the rafters of my 8’x14′ shed.  The small solar panel is wired to the fixture and has enough slack to run it up on the roof facing the sun.  Every time I’ve gone in the shed in the evening, the light triggers and shines surprisingly very brightly.  Lights up the whole shed. There is even a remote control allowing me to turn the light on or off manually or adjust the motion sensitivity and brightness.  I love it.   

Add Light To Your Fire

Now I don’t know what your budget is, but I’m sure most of you appreciate a budget-friendly DIY project.  I know I do.  So here’s a cool idea for you that serves it’s purpose and looks really cool.  A fire pit area with solar string lights.  Unfortunately I had to do a bit more excavation than what is typically required.  Just to put it in perspective for you.  There were 3 oak trees together in the middle of my backyard that I had cut down and stumps grinded.  When stumps are grinded it leaves behind a huge amount of mulch and sawdust.  For a year I had to stare at a bare, weed infested area where no grass would grow.  Also the grade of the land was much higher there.  Almost like a small hill.  I became so annoyed with the sight of it.  I kept pondering on

ideas.  Dig it out, add topsoil and plant grass?  Aaa, I know it just wouldn’t grow the way I wanted and it would look noticeably inconsistent.  So.. I decided on a fire pit with solar string lights.  Something I have always wanted to have in my backyard but just never had the motivation to do it. A fire pit adds a whole other dynamic to your yard.  It’s something you can enjoy probably all four seasons until you get a big snowfall then the fun is temporarily over.  It is such a great place to hang with family and friends enjoying some drinks and funny stories.  Maybe a couple appetizers.  Some guys like to relax there with a cigar and a glass of whiskey.  It’s your fire pit.  Enjoy it the way you want to enjoy it.  No written laws on it.  Now I went to a couple local landscape supply places to see what they have.  A DIY stone fire pit with insert cost about $1200.  And that’s for just the fire pit itself!  Does not include all the other goodies that make it more of a special place to hang out.  It was then that I decided I would tackle this project all by my lonesome.  I did!  No outside help what-so-ever (although, I really did need help but I hate bothering people).  But I do suggest, for real, to have a helper.  Your back will thank you.  Trust me. 

Project Awesome Budget-Friendly Fire Pit 

Let’s go over everything that went into this project shall we?  I started by measuring out a circle approximately 14 feet in diameter.  From the center point I measured out another circle but smaller.  6′ diameter.  Then began the digging.  Oh the digging.  I was pulling out loads of big roots from the oak trees, rocks, pavers and bricks.  I bought a cheap electric tiller to help.  Which it did, but I was hitting so many roots that it made it much more time consuming.  Once I dug it out I leveled it the best I could (definitely not perfect by any stretch).  I bought two rolls of landscape fabric to “prevent” weeds. Then some plastic edging to put around both circles.  I picked up some white stones to add to the center circle.  For the outer circle I ordered a yard of pea gravel (was just enough).  I was winging it but it came out pretty good.  Now the fun part.  Figuring out how I’m going to hang the solar string lights I purchased.  I went and bought four 18″-24″ planters, an 8′ length of .75″ PVC pipe, four 4x4x8′ pressure-treated posts and about 6 bags of concrete mix. I secured the posts to the bottom of the planters then drilled two holes for the PVC pipe (for drainage).  I mixed the concrete and poured it in the planter about 3/4 of the way.  I think I left about 4″ from the top.  I was careful not to get any mix in the PVC pipes.  The hard part was the leveling.  When the mix is wet the post will fall over so you have to make a brace to keep it in place. After all that was cured and solid I screwed in I-Hooks at the tops of the posts, ran a string around each post then clipped the solar string lights to the string.  Screwed in the solar panels and, voila!

A totally awesome fire pit surround with ambient solar lights overhead.  My wife loved the way it came out.  She was very proud of me.  Well, that’s it.  Was tough but a fun project.

Security

Motion lights have always been a form of security to add around your home.  An intruder comes on to your property, the light pops on, intruder runs away.  Pretty simple.  Back in the day the problem was that the light would pop on all the time.  Someone is throwing out the garbage, letting out the dog, running to their car, getting the mail, whatever.  The lights go on.  After a little while, the electric bill goes up and you would have to replace all the bulbs.  Not efficient.  That’s the beauty of solar LED lights.  You don’t use any electricity and the LEDs last basically forever.  But realistically like 10,000 + hours.  They’re relatively inexpensive compared to halogen or incandescent lights and fixtures and you don’t need to have an electrician come and install them.  Totally DIY.  All you need is a drill, a level and a pencil to mark the holes and alignments.  That’s it!  Easy peasy.  

Conclusion

To wrap things up here I will just reiterate what I started with.  If you want to spruce up your DIY projects without breaking the bank (or the walls),  just add some solar LED lights.  I assure you, they really do make a big difference. Oh and I forgot to mention I also have a motion censored LED light fixture above where my garbage pails and recyclables are.  Adds just the right amount of light to complete my after dinner task. 

I hope you all are inspired by this post and start creating amazing lighting projects all over your house.  

See ya next time.

Cheers!

Rob,

Founder  

TheShineisReal.com