Greening Your Landscape with Solar Power - NESEA

Your grass is lush, your flowers are vibrant and your vegetables are abundant. But how ?green? is your yard, from an eco-standpoint? The answer: it can always be greener. Solar power is a convenient and effective way to make your landscape more environmentally friendly.

Solar Lawn Care Equipment?

Did you know that in just one hour, a gasoline-powered lawnmower emits the same amount of pollutants as 11 late-model automobiles? That?s according to the?Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which also reports that every year American homeowners spill a total of 17 million gallons of fuel when filling yard equipment.

Solar-powered electric lawn tools are changing the way homeowners cut grass, trim hedges and blow leaves. Emission-free and cordless, solar landscape equipment also saves on gasoline costs and is easier on the ears than traditional mowers, blowers and trimmers.??The electric equipment is five times less noisy than gas-powered trimmers and blowers, breaks down less and requires less maintenance,? says Bob Blundon of Connecticut, who founded the?eco-friendly landscape company Mother Earth Care. Blundon has also noticed the solar-powered design makes the yard equipment lighter and easier to maneuver.

Solar Lights

After the lawn is perfectly manicured, solar lights can showcase all that hard work. From deck lights and tiered lamp posts to colored lights that create an inviting glow, there are many ways to utilize sunlight after dark. It certainly beats digging trenches through your grass.

Today?s solar lights utilize LEDs, which have a much longer lifespan (up to 100,000 hours) than the former incandescent light bulbs. ?If you used solar lights a few years ago, you probably remember them as providing very little light, being unreliable and on top of that, not staying lit very long,? says home improvement expert Murray Anderson. ?Solar lights have changed a lot over the years.?

Solar Fountains?

In addition to illuminating your front yard for safety and visibility purposes, solar energy can be used to create a warm, serene atmosphere in the backyard. Green your gazebo or garden landscape by incorporating solar push-in lanterns or a solar fountain to enhance aesthetics. Cascading fountains and bubbling pots with LED lights can create a tranquil environment, and some ?on demand? designs include battery backup so you can choose when the fountain will run?such as a cloudy day when you?re entertaining guests. ?A fountain with the solar panel built-in is useful for those water features with a spray. Pumps with a separate solar panel are best for waterfalls, man-made creeks and other water features of this type,? advises the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Department.

Solar Gardening Innovations?

Vineyard owners and farmers with small or mid-sized fields can benefit from a solar-powered gardening robot, controlled by a smartphone. Created in France, the?Vitirover?uses GPS coordinates to determine exactly where to cut grass and weeds, with sensors to keep the blades away from vines and crops. It can even roll up and down hills with a 15 percent grade or below.

For those tired of back-breaking gardening or tending crops, the?Wunda Weeder?allows users to lie face down on a four-wheeled frame to weed flowers or harvest vegetables. Designed by Australians, the self-propelled electric machine is powered by a solar panel that offers shade from the sun or rain.

The original article was posted on the SolarReviews blog.?

Source: http://www.nesea.org/renewable-energy/greening-your-landscape-with-solar-power/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=greening-your-landscape-with-solar-power

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