If you’ve seen or bought solar lights a few years ago, you were probably disappointed because they were rather dim. They also didn’t stay lit for very long.

Solar lights today are completely changed from what was available on the market even a year or two ago.

Modern solar lights use vastly improved design and new technologies to provide more light and a longer lasting performance than the previous generation. Since they’ve also come down in price, they are also a better value than before.

You may find a similar change when you compare the technology in the first series of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The original concept was good, but they didn’t have a clue what technology would bring twenty years down the road.

Solar lighting can also be compared to the great strides cell phones have made in the last ten to fifteen years. Cell phones used to be bulky, expensive devices compared to the extremely small Bluetooth-enabled headsets on the market now. Advances in battery and microprocessor technologies have made cell phones so portable and cheap that nearly everyone now carries one.

Batteries have also come a long way in recent years. Ultra thin batteries are now available which provide more power and longer life than batteries four times their size did only a couple of years ago.

The technologies used in solar lights are no exception to this rapid evolution. New models of solar lights give off bright light for several nights after charging in the sub for just a day.

Solar powered lights have also largely abandoned incandescent bulbs in favor of highly efficient light emitting diode arrays (LEDs).

LED arrays used with a single reflector give solar lights the luminescence of a 220 volt incandescent bulb – but there are many advantages to the latest wave of solar lights over the older models:

1. 10,000 hours of useful life

2. The bulbs are completely maintenance free

3. While they consume less than 3 watts of power, they are 90% more efficient than traditional bulbs

4. LEDs are completely safe for use outdoors because they are totally sealed units

The efficient, low profile batteries in LED solar powered lights and the sophisticated photovoltaic arrays which use solar energy to provide non-polluting, free power for your outdoor lighting add up to a vastly improved solar light all around.

The latest models of solar lights can be used for all sorts of lighting designs and save you a lot of money at the same time.

One of the best perks to solar lighting is it doesn’t need to be wired into your electrical box. They are able to be put anywhere in your yard to give light to your deck, your paths, water features or specimen plantings as long as the solar panel can get sun to stay charged.

You don’t need to worry about adding to your electric bill at the holidays, either. Remember the light show in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where the power drain blew the whole electricity grid?

Solar fairy lights can add beautiful twinkling accents to outdoor holiday displays or summer garden parties and cookouts.

You can even use solar lights to provide illumination in your tool shed or the garage as back up lighting when the power goes out.

With solar lights, you can enjoy versatile and attractive outdoor lighting which has no operating cost.

They are an incredibly economical source of light which are as friendly to the environment as they are to your wallet.

Since they’re easy enough to install and move as desired, you can change your outdoor lighting configuration whenever you like.

Since burglars like to ply their trade under the cover of darkness, solar lighting can make your home a more secure place. Thieves can’t cut the wires or put out these lights! Your solar lights will stay lit even when you’re not around, which deters thieves and protects your property.

If you want to sell your home, solar lights can add extra curb appeal to your property. Potential buyers often come by and look at homes at night as well as in the daytime. If they see one home which is darkened and another well lit with these free to use, eco friendly outdoor lighting systems, they will probably prefer the second option.

Take a chance and try out the new world of solar lighting.