Pros and Cons of Solar Powered Emergency Lighting
Solar powered emergency lighting is a valuable tool for your family after a natural disaster. When a hurricane or tornado disrupts the power supply you may be without electrical power for days or even weeks. That's why solar lights are commonly found in emergency kits kept by many families.
This lighting has other uses and you may find the solar emergency lighting you purchased with an extreme disaster in mind may be well used in your daily life.
Even a drenching rainstorm can disrupt power for several hours. This may not be too inconvenient during the day but at night a power disruption will leave you in the dark.
There is little as frustrating as reaching for a flashlight when the power is out and finding weak or drained batteries.
Today you can buy emergency lights that have batteries that can be recharged using solar energy. Placed in the sun during daylight hours the battery is charged and can be used at night to light the way.
These lights are popular with wilderness campers and often stored with other solar supplies by survivalists. For a camper staying in a basic campground facility, solar powered emergency lighting can be a simple solar flashlight that lights the way to the campground office or the shower facility.
Emergency Backup Solar Lighting Kits
If you are looking for a system that will provide some power in the event of an emergency situation, there are kits available to provide solar powered emergency lighting.
With adequate batteries, 200 watts of power will run 12 volt lights, a high efficiency solar refrigerator or solar ceiling fans.
Such a kit can also power a laptop computer, a radio or small television and the charged batteries will provide power for a cell phone or battery powered lantern.
A typical kit includes four 50 watt solar panels that can be easily stored in your garage or camper. With legs that telescope in length and electrical connectors to provide plug and play for various uses, this kit will fit in your car's trunk.
You can also buy larger solar powered emergency lighting as kits that are referred to as commercial or military grade products.
Included is a charge controller and regulator and an inverter for 120 AC volts. An optional 12 volt battery can be ordered but you can also use battery purchased elsewhere such as portable marine batteries.
Emergency Lamps
If you don't want to go with a full solar lighting emergency kit you can purchase a simple solar powered lantern. This is an inexpensive option for family homes to keep available for use during a power outage.
This is a compact and powerful light in a lantern style with a convenient handle for carrying. It is rugged and safe to use. This dependable solar powered emergency lighting has a small solar panel, an adapter and a sealed lead acid battery.
Some models come with a compass attached to the lantern which can be useful for wilderness campers. The bright white LED light provides illumination over 360 degrees around the lantern and the LED light has a 70,000 hour lifetime of use.
Easily Transported
The low cost solar powered emergency lighting in the form of easily transported and charged lanterns are popular in many countries where electrical grids are not dependable. In the U.S. the lanterns have been readily adopted by homeowners and campers.
These are also safe lights to use on farms and ranches where a lantern charged by the sun during the day provides a useful light source to check livestock in barns and stables at night.
In coastal areas where strong storms often blow in from the sea or on the plains where tornadoes are a frequent result of weather fronts, the solar powered lighting kits are worth the cost. When it comes to alternative energy, solar powered lighting is perhaps the most popular with consumers.
