Outdoor Solar Lighting Design Tutorial

Note which parts of your landscaping remain in sun year-round.

When designing solar outdoor lighting, take several factors into consideration. Outdoor lighting primarily is used for safety, but the fixtures also enhance a home's beauty at night and blend with the landscape during the day. Solar lighting allows flexibility in design because you won't have to run low-voltage power lines underground to each light. The three factors to consider in selecting a lighting design are your needs, which equipment best addresses these needs and how to execute the design to make the most of solar power.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Colored pencils
• Compass
• Measuring tape

Instructions

1. Sketch out your home and yard on a piece of paper. The proportions do not need to be exact, although it is best to roughly estimate the size of all objects in relation to each other. Include the outline of your home, driveway, walkways, garden areas and any other features that are relevant to your lighting needs.

2. Mark where south is on your drawing, using a compass if necessary.

3. Shade the sketch with red pencil over any areas you want to light for safety. These areas may include the front porch, driveway and walkways. Focus most of the solar lighting in these locations.

4. Color the sketch with yellow pencil over areas where you want lighting for decorative purposes, such as gardens, water features and architectural features. If your budget does not allow for all the lighting you want, postpone purchasing equipment for these areas.

5. Highlight the areas of your drawing that receive ample sunlight, using green pencil. Note those areas that receive sun during the winter months, as that is when your lights will be most active due to shorter daylight hours.

6. Measure all of the safety light areas around your home, such as the length and width of walkways and driveways. Purchase enough fixtures in your chosen style to create continuous illumination along all safety areas. Check the lighting packaging for infomation on how many feet a fixture will illuminate. Overlap the coverage by a few inches to achieve the most visibility.

7. Choose lights with solar panels that work well in cloudy conditions if you live in a climate that gets little sun. Select LED lights, which minimize the amount of energy required, especially if you are not in a sunny region. If the green areas of your drawing do not overlap the red and yellow areas, choose lights with removable solar panels. Set them a short distance away to place them in the green areas where they will receive sun.

8. Install the lights with the solar panels pointing upward at a slight angle, perpendicular to the angle at which the sun's rays will hit them. For lights with removable solar panels, adjust the panels seasonally to follow the sun.

References

• University of Southern California: California State Science Fair -- Maximizing Solar Panel Power by Tilting Its Angle Towards the Sun
• Solar Garden Light Store: How Solar Garden Lights Work