What’s the Difference Between Solar & Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting?
Landscape lighting can be a beautiful addition to your landscape, but the type of landscape lights you choose will determine how much of a consistent impact you make. It’s important to understand the difference between solar lights and low-voltage landscape lighting.
Key Differences Between Solar & Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting
1. Low-Voltage Landscape Lights Are Wired to the Grid
Low-voltage lights draw power from the electrical grid. They are wired to connect to your home’s electrical system through a transformer. That transformer draws your home’s high-voltage power from an indoor or outdoor outlet (110-120 volts) to low voltage (12-15 volts) before it enters the wiring and fixtures installed.
Whereas solar landscape lights are powered by a small panel built into or attached by wire, and typically operate at 3-6 volts.
2. Low-Voltage Can Produce Higher Lumens, But Solar Can Compete In Some Instances
Solar lights have come a long way, but they do produce lower lumens than low-voltage landscape lighting.
Low-voltage landscape lights typically have a lumen output of over 200, whereas solar lights have an output of anywhere from 2 to 100, depending on conditions and location (more on this below).
Illuminating a pathway? Solar lights are a great choice. Uplighting the beautiful 40-foot sugar maple in your front yard? Solar lights don’t come close to the impact of low-voltage landscape lighting.
3. Weather & Sun Patterns Can Create Inconsistent Output from Solar Lights
Solar lights can compete well with low-voltage landscape lighting in the right conditions, where low lumen output can be satisfactory. Fixture location and weather each have tremendous impacts on solar light output.
Low-voltage landscape lighting has consistent output no matter the location or recent weather. Plants maturing, seasonal changes in sun patterns, and weather all make solar lights very inconsistent.
4. Solar Lights Are Easier To Install & More Affordable
The two main advantages of solar lights are ease of installation and affordability. Solar lights can be installed and removed with relative ease, which makes them initially very attractive to homeowners.
Low-voltage landscape lighting requires more groundwork, from mounting the transformer to burying the wire to placing the fixtures in the ground. For these reasons, we encourage you hire a landscape lighting professional service for a project like this.
5. Like Anything In Life, You Get What You Pay For With Landscape Lights
As mentioned above, solar landscape lights are often a fraction of the cost of low-voltage landscape lights, but the old adage “you get what you pay for” holds true here as well.
Solar landscape lighting vs low-voltage landscape lighting are two very contrasting investments. If you’re not sure where to start in Rockingham County and beyond, contact us at Shreckhise Landscape & Design. One of our experts will come look at your property, discuss your needs and make recommendations on which landscape lighting system is right for you.
Article Written By: Trent ShreckhiseTrent Shreckhise, Owner/Designer
