Today there are numerous different styles of decorative solar lighting one can choose from to help enhance the look of your garden. Even if you do not have a garden just a terrace or a balcony this form of outside solar lighting can help to bring it to life for you.

In this article we are going to be taking a look at some of the different kinds of outside solar lighting one can now use to decorate and enhance your garden.

1. Terracotta Solar Sphere Lantern - This is the perfect way for adding ambient lighting to an entertaining area outside. Can either be placed on table tops or around the edges of your decking or patio. The lantern is sphere shaped and has cutouts in the side to allow more light to flood out and produced silhouetted lighting effects.

2. Firefly Solar Light - These come with a stainless steel stake which allows you to place them anywhere you want in your garden. On top of the stake is a very beautiful hand blown cracked glass globe which at night emits a very pale glow in the garden. Although mainly used as a decorative form of lighting can also be used as accent lighting to show up dark obstacles or to help light the route of a pathway.

These forms of decorative solar lighting provide the area where placed with a warm subtle glow to it. These are ideally used in areas of the garden which generally look drab and dull to add more color to them.

3. Floating Solar Light - These come in a variety of different colors and will float on the surface of your pool, pond or other water feature. During the day as it floats around on the water it will collect energy from the sun and then at night they turn themselves on providing a muted glow to the water as they float around. Not only are they east and fast to install but cost nothing to actually operate them.

4. Rock Shaped Solar Lighting - This type of lighting using solar energy can be placed anywhere within your garden. A lot of people will use these as a way of providing light for a path that is in theirs. Whilst others will use it to highlight steps leading up to a paved or decked area in theirs. Some people just use this form of decorative solar lighting as a way to add accent to certain plants in their gardens.

5. The Stepping Stone - Another great decorative solar light for the garden that you can purchase either from a reputable garden supplies store or online. These lights are great for marking out pathways to show people where to go as they meander around your garden at night, making it a much safer place for everybody to enjoy. Around the light is a solar panel which collects energy during the day from the sun and then releases the energy to power the light within once night begins to fall.

These lights and all the outside decorative solar lighting we have mentioned in this article is very easy to install and use. Plus the cost of actually running them once they are installed is nothing. Most of the solar lights available today especially those we have mentioned here will automatically turn themselves on and off. On average these types of lights as long as they have collected enough energy from the sun will last for around 8 to 10 hours without the need for any external power source.

Image by fjlehnerz via Flickr

Whether you’re looking out over a dark patio or a massive estate, it’s now cheaper and easier than ever to provide your darkened areas with affordable and attractive garden lighting.

One of the more recent evolutions in garden lighting is the use of fiber-optics. These lights are contained in small canisters or cylinders containing thousands of fiber-optic strands to exude light.

The first major benefit of this light source is the lack of electrical current needed to fuel it, making it extremely safe, even around areas with water. Secondly, these lights require very little electricity at all, making them a great cost saving option, and a good choice for the environment.

Another money saving option that can be used to illuminate your garden is the use of solar garden lighting. Using a single Nicam or Nicad battery, these lights gather their operational energy during the day through the sun’s rays and automatically turn on at night, as the presence of the sun disappears. At dawn, they will automatically turn off again. These lights will charge even on cloudy or overcast days, as the sun’s effect is still there, even if it can’t be seen.

Solar garden lights come in many different shapes, colors and sizes. Flat lighting can rest on the ground and be used to effectively light pathways from below, you can also have versions that come attached to spikes or mounted on poles, offering a variety of potential areas for the lights to be placed.

Solar garden lights may also be safely and easily used in and around water, such as in a small pond or swimming pool. This style of lights often comes in the form of floating balls, and in a variety of colors.

A seamless and clever way of integrating solar lighting within your garden is setting is through the use of garden rocks. These rocks are hollowed out on the inside and fitted with halogen lamps, which give the effect of the rock itself glowing. These can come in a number of styles that blend well with your garden during the day when their form is more visible, including natural looking granite style rocks, and models with moss or other greenery ‘growing’ on them.

With the number of different options on the market today for garden lighting, there’s no need to fall into the same old habits of buying traditional lighting fixtures. Any style of garden can be effectively accented with the appropriate lighting source to smartly illuminate your green paradise.