There is no rule that says that you have to turn your solar lights off at night. However, generally speaking it is a good idea, especially if your garden only gets a very limited amount of sunlight during the day.
But, whether you should turn your solar lights off, or not, also depends on the type of solar lights that you have.
Some solar lights are designed to simply sit in your garden all day every day. These designs tend not to have any power buttons as they simply charge up during the day when the sun is out, and light up during the night.
Repeating this routine every single day. In this case, there is no need for you to turn off your solar lights at night.
But a lot of the more expensive solar light designs are much more advanced. These designs tend to have power buttons, and also come with the ability to hold a charge, rather than use it as soon as the sun goes down.
These types of solar lights are excellent if your garden gets very limited amounts of sunlight as you can store up the charge ready for when you want to use the lights.
So, you don’t really need to switch off your solar lights at night. But, if you have a more advanced type of solar light it is best to do this as it allows you to use the charge as and when you need it.
Do solar lights last all night?
If your solar lights have had constant and direct sunlight throughout the day then you should get about 8 hours of light out of them throughout the night. The ideal amount of sleep that you should get during the night is 8 hours, so generally speaking, yes solar lights do last all night.
However, whether you will get this full amount of time, or not, depends on the amount of sunlight that the solar light receives.
Most solar lights will be exposed to the sun all day while the sun is up, however they will only get direct sunlight for about 6 hours.
This is why the majority of solar lights are designed to reach full charge after they have received 6 hours of direct sunlight. If your solar light receives 6 hours of direct sunlight then you will usually get about 8 hours of light out of it.
So strictly speaking, solar lights do not last all night, but they do last for the majority of this time. This means that if you are looking to buy solar lights and want them to last throughout the evening then the majority of solar lights will be able to do this.
How long do solar lights stay on at night?
It can be easy to expect your solar lights to stay on all night, but in reality they don’t. When fully charged, solar lights will hold their battery for approximately 8 hours, but after this they will fade until they go out completely.
While 8 hours is a long amount of battery life, this isn’t long enough for the lights to last all night.
However, it is highly unlikely that you will need your solar lights to last for any longer than 8 hours. So, even if you do spend a night out in the garden, the chances are that the battery on the solar lights will not die until after you have finished outside.
This means that, even though 8 hours isn’t a complete night, most solar lights will last for almost all the night.
Some solar lights will have a longer battery life than this, while others will have a much shorter life. Ultimately, the number of hours of light that you will get out of your solar lights depends on the amount of direct sunlight that they received throughout the day.
It will also depend on what is ‘full capacity’ for the solar light that you have bought. However, generally speaking you should expect to get about 8 hours of light out of your solar lights if they have fully charged via sunlight throughout the day.
What does F and S mean on solar lights?
If you have purchased one of the more advanced types of solar lights, then you will notice that these devices come with a variety of buttons. These buttons will usually include an on/off switch, and also an ‘F’ and ‘S’ switch, but what does this mean?
Only the most advanced solar lights will include an ‘S’ and ‘F’ button in their design. These buttons relate to different light modes that the solar light can use, with ‘S’ standing for ‘Static’, and ‘F’ standing for ‘Flashing’.
So, if you want to use your solar lights in standard mode then you will use the ‘S’ button, and if you want the lights to flash then you will press the ‘F’ button instead.
If you only have basic solar lights, then you shouldn’t expect them to include these two different functions. Most basic solar lights will not include any buttons, instead only charging up, using the battery, then repeating.
So, if you want your solar lights to have a flashing function, and even an on/off function, then you should expect to spend a little more on your solar lights. But, if you own solar lights and have always wondered what the ‘F’ and ‘S’ buttons mean, then now you know that they stand for ‘Flashing’ and ‘Static’.
Why do outdoor solar lights stop working?
If you have ever owned solar lights then you probably will have noticed that these specific types of lights quite often break. When this first happens, you might think that it is due to your solar light not receiving enough sunlight. However, quite often it is due to a variety of other reasons.
One of the main reasons for this issue is because of the battery inside a solar light. This battery is responsible for charging the light up, but it will often wear thin prematurely.
Due to this, you will usually find that the battery in your solar light will stop working within 2 years of you buying the device. So if you find that your solar lights have stopped working after about 2 years of you owning them, then this is probably the reason.
If you have spent a lot on the solar lights then this can be incredibly disappointing. However, luckily it is usually fairly easy to fix the battery inside your solar light. To do this, you will need to diagnose the cause of the problem.
Sometimes, the battery will stop charging via solar panels because the plastic cover that protects the battery has become cloudy.
Other times this might be caused by the solar light’s battery becoming disconnected from the light which will limit the amount of sunlight that it gets. Once you have fixed this, the solar lights will usually start working again.
Will solar lights charge if turned off?
Yes, your solar lights will charge, even if they are currently switched off. Although it isn’t made totally clear, the power switch on your solar lights is only responsible for switching the light itself on and off. It has no effect on the light’s ability to gain charge through sunlight.
So, even if your solar lights are turned off, as long as they are in direct contact with sunlight then the charge will increase.
In fact, turning off your solar lights can be hugely beneficial to the charging process. Especially if your solar lights only get a limited amount of sunlight during the day.
By leaving your solar lights turned off then you will not be using any of the charge that is harvested from the sunlight. This means that during the time that the light is switched off, the battery will slowly build up its charge until it reaches full capacity, ensuring that your lights are fully charged ready for when you do switch them on.
This is the reason that the more expensive types of solar light are usually viewed as the better option. Cheaper solar lights do not tend to have a power switch, meaning that as soon as the lights are fully charged they will use that battery once the sun goes down.
So, in short, yes your solar lights will charge, even if they are turned off.
Leave a Reply