empire of the sun
Judging the right size of photovoltaic panel to buy is
tricky, as so much is variable: the weather, the efficiency
of your converter and battery at storing the energy you
collect, and how much power your appliance draws (a drill
is much more power-hungry than a fountain, for example).
As a rule of thumb, though, you should overestimate what
you need by about 20% to make sure you don’t run short
even in long periods of dull weather.
Now that you know a bit about passive and photovoltaic
solar power and their applications in the outdoor garden,
here are a few more photovoltaic suggestions to apply to
your outdoor winter garden.
Solar Lighting
Probably the most popular way to use solar energy in the
garden, these units store solar energy collected via a small
photovoltaic panel during the day in batteries within the
unit. Low-energy LED bulbs use a minimal amount of
power, so you’ll get hours of lighting after dark for illuminating pathways and create dramatic lighting effects.
Try highlighting a particularly architectural plant with an
uplighter in the soil at its base, or use filters to cast multicolored ripples across your foliage. Solar lights have no
wiring, and the photovoltaic cells are usually built into the
casing so you can move them around the garden to create
different effects to suit your mood. You can even float solar
lights on a pond.
Solar lights
have no wiring, and the
photovoltaic cells are usually
built into the casing so you
can move them around the
garden to create different
effects to suit your mood.”
78
Maximum Yield USA | January 2015