What is Solar Lighting?

Solar Lighting, or solar anything for that matter, is a popular catchphrase these days. People are interested in the idea of reducing our consumption of finite natural resources, such as coal and oil. Increasingly companies and individuals are looking for ways to harness the powers of wind, water, and sunlight.

Solar lighting refers to any method of lighting your home by using the sun. So this term is all-encompassing and includes anything from a regular window that lets sunlight in, to powering regular electrical lights with solar panels, to solar light tubes, which are essentially a modernized version of the skylight that can provide light almost anywhere in the home.

The benefits of using solar lighting are numerous. There is the obvious, that the more you use the sun, the less you’re going to have to pay your local power company every month. But a little known fact about sunlight is that it increases your melatonin levels, and melatonin effects mood, which is why people typically feel better on sunny days than cloudy ones. So if you have more natural lighting in your house, you’re going to feel a bit better during the day. Finally, the last benefit of solar lighting is that you can feel good about doing your part to help save the Earth!

Even if your home still relies on the power grid for some energy, the more you reduce your own carbon footprint, the better you should feel. Every little bit counts, and once your friends see how easy it is to use solar lighting they’ll be ready to put it in their homes too, and before you know it you’ve started an entire chain reaction of people turning to solar lighting to brighten their homes.