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Solar Garden Fountains – What Are the Benefits?

August 27th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

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Solar powered electric appliances are gaining popularity in modern society. Many people invest into solar powered water and pool heaters, and of course solar fountains for the garden. One can find many advantages when installing a solar fountain for your garden, but there are some things you have to be aware of as well.

How do solar fountains for the garden work?

Usually solar powered garden fountains are very easy to install. Like other solar powered devices they use solar panels with Photovoltaic (PV) cells to collect energy of the sun. Since a fountain pump doesn’t need a great deal of energy, the panels are usually quite small.

There are two main types. First are fountains where solar panels are incorporated in the design of the fountain itself. This type is the easiest to install, but you have to make sure that you place your new fountain in a sunny spot otherwise it won’t work.

Another major type of solar garden fountain has remote solar panels, which can be positioned several meters away from the fountain. If you chose this type, it doesn’t matter whether your fountain is in a sunny or shady spot as long as the panels are exposed to the sun. Most solar fountains with remote panels come with easy to set up mounting system for the panels. Usually you can mount them on the wall, use grass stakes to position them on the loan or use a tall wooden stake to put your panel high up above all the plants.

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Advantages and disadvantages of solar fountains

There are many benefits!advantages of getting a solar garden fountain rather than the electric one. The most obvious advantage is that you don’t have to pay for the energy and the environment doesn’t suffer. An electric pump won’t add much to your energy bill in a day, but if you want your fountain to work all summer, you can save a lot by using sun energy instead of electricity or batteries.

Another advantage is that you are not limited by proximity to a power source when selecting a place for your fountain. This is particularly important for people with large gardens. You can place your fountain in the farthest corner from the house, as long as the solar panels are on a sunny spot.

Also solar fountains are very easy to install. Solar powered fountains with panels built into a body of the fountain don’t require any special installation at all. This type is perfect as a solar pond fountain that sprays water from your pond. Since there is no cord the fountain can just float on the surface.

The main downside of a solar powered garden fountain is it might stop working in cloudy weather. Most pumps will still work on a slightly cloudy day, but if it is really overcast the flow of water will be much less. And, of course, your fountain won’t work at night.

Also, it is best to disconnect your fountain during cold month. It would work fine on a sunny day without snow, but snow and frost can damage your pump.