Choosing Lamps in Solar Lights

When it comes to the lamps in solar powered lights, despite being more expensive, LEDs (light-emitting diodes or tiny two-terminal devices that emit light when an electrical current passes through them) are preferred to incandescent or fluorescent lamps. You might still find some indoor or outdoor solar lights that do not use LEDs; however, LEDs are becoming preferred in solar lighting industry because of their many advantages:


- Efficiency: LEDs generate more light per watt than incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.
- Natural color: LEDs can emit light of an intended color (through different wavelengths) without the use of color filters that are required in incandescent lighting approach.
- Cool light: LEDs radiate very little heat through infrared radiation that might damage sensitive objects or fabrics, unlike heat-driven incandescent and fluorescent lamps. This feature adds to the safety of solar powered lights that use LEDs.
- Longevity: LEDs can have a relatively long useful life - typical lifetimes quoted are 25,000-100,000 hours (in comparison to 1,000–2,000 hours for incandescent lamps.)
- Gradual failure: LEDs generally fail by growing dimmer over time instead of suddenly burning out like incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs.
- Sturdiness: LEDs are small solid state devices which makes them difficult to damage with external shock in contrast to fragile incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. This feature is especially helpful in the outdoor solar lights.


Brightness, in my opinion, is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. I believe it depends on your personal preference and use: you may want some lights to be bright for safety reasons (such as solar lamp posts or solar security lights) or set the mood with dimmer atmosphere lights (like solar pond lights or solar stepping stones.)


When it comes to brightness, there are several elements to consider:


- LED quantity: The lamp in a solar light will shine brighter if it is composed of more LEDs.
- Optical elements: LEDs themselves are usually very small in size, but lamps often have integrated optical elements that help to direct and reflect the light and aid in brightness.
- LED type: You may find some LEDs being described as ultra bright or super bright. If you are wondering whether it's just a sales trick, it's not. These are indeed much brighter than regular LEDs.


So, when it comes to choosing what kind of lamp you want in your solar light, consider the attributes presented above and your personal preference. Good luck.