If you have a yard and have ever thought about lighting it at night, then you have probably heard about solar yard lights. They are still pretty expensive, but their advantage is that you don't have to run any wiring for them. As long as a location gets direct sunlight, you can put a light there in about 15 seconds.

These lights are extremely interesting because they are almost like mini-satellites. They generate and store their own power during the day and then release it at night. This is just like a satellite that stores solar energy while it is on the sunny side of the planet and then uses that energy when it's on the dark side. In this article, you will learn exactly how it happens!

The Basics
Here is a typical solar yard light:

Solar lights are an energy-efficient choice.

It consists of the following components:

• A plastic case
• A solar cell on top
• A single AA Nicad battery
• A small controller board
• An LED light source
• A photoresistor to detect darkness

If you pop off the cover, you will find that all of the working components are mounted as a single unit. On the back side you see this:

Next, we'll take a closer look at some of these components.

More on Solar Yard Lights To learn more about the environment, sustainable development and living green, look out for the Discovery Channel's Planet Green.­

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