!#5: Christmas Lights White Order Now: 2011

!±8± Solar Powered Christmas Lights Will Make Your Christmas Green

Ah, Christmas. That special time of year when love is all around, everyone is merry and peace reigns on planet earth. Well, sort of, anyway. For the green-minded, however, the Christmas holidays also represent a time of excess, waste and conspicuous consumption. But, hey--we Christmas tree-huggers want to enjoy the holidays, too! Here's an idea that will reduce your holiday power consumption as well as assuage any feelings of guilt you may have over indulging in the general yuletide merriment: Solar powered Christmas lights.

I first came across the idea of solar Christmas lights some time ago, when I read an article about a town in New Zealand that outfitted their entire town center with these solar holiday lights. I have never been a fan of decking out the yard in swaths of Christmas lights, but I thought this was a great idea. Although I love Christmas, I always cringe at the thought of all the wasted energy that goes into an outdoor display. Here, I thought, was the perfect answer.

How They Work

Battery operated Christmas lights are not new, but are usually relegated to indoor decorating projects. Solar-power lights are meant to be used outdoors, but operate under the same concept. The sun charges a battery via a small solar panel during the day, which allows for several hours of glow after dark. Although the batteries may not store up enough energy to put on a display from dusk 'til dawn, they should certainly be able to put on a show at least until the kids go to bed.

As I started looking into these products, I wondered how reliable they were. This question was answered quite readily by checking retailer web sites that allowed customer input. The general consensus among consumer reviewers was that that outdoor solar Christmas lights work quite well. In fact, there was only one slightly negative thread among reviewers that being that the solar LED lights emit a somewhat other-worldly blue hue, which some found took a little getting used to. Otherwise, most were extremely pleased with their purchase.

How Much do They Cost?

A string of approximately 100 solar LED Christmas lights will set you back about , not much more than regular outdoor LED lights. This means that giving your yard the solar Christmas lights treatment is very cost effective and probably worth a try. If you try them, let me know what you think--if I hear enough positive feedback, I may become an outdoor Christmas light enthusiast, myself!