Decorative Solar

Would you like to host a carbon neutral party? One terrific solar technology implementation for the home has been the solar umbrella. As dusk settles, lights in the umbrella's underside gradually turn on and use power that the umbrella's solar cell has accumulated during the day.  Placed on a patio or deck a solar umbrella allows you and your guests to remain comfortably outdoors after natural light has fallen.

There are several types of solar umbrellas.  The most common have LEDs distributed along the underside of the umbrella's struts or have the lights set within a translucent tube at the top of the post.  Others have a more traditional-looking set of light globes that hang off the central post, in a fashion that's a bit reminiscent of ceiling fan lights. You can peruse a wide variety of these products at Amazon.com.

Solar umbrellas are ideal for areas that are located at a distance from the house or outdoor electrical sockets.  If you're planning to host an evening dinner party or serve drinks on a patio or around a pool, but are concerned about keeping the area comfortably lit after the sun goes down, solar umbrellas and other solar landscape lighting could be an excellent solution.  Why run ugly extension cords across your yard when you can use solar lighting instead?

Additionally, like many solar devices, solar umbrellas are extremely portable and can be easily transported to other locations.

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The "SolMate Solar Mole Repeller" by P3 International is my favorite new solar gadget for the yard. It actually drives moles and other burrowing mammals and rodents out of your yard, to a radius of almost 50 feet.

If you're like me, you've been at war with moles and gophers for years and are probably disappointed that the Solar Mole Repeller merely chases them off, rather than releasing tiny solar robots that hunt down and kill the damn things. While the humane process employed by the device may be considered an overly sentimental bug by some of our angrier readers, it's actually an important feature: to pets and kids, the device is perfectly harmless. No poisons or pesticides are involved. Instead, the solar device emits low-frequency pulses through the ground that annoy mammals living down there. After one or two weeks they leave the area. You can place the device wherever sunlight is abundant enough to power its solar cell.

Also, the Solar Mole Repeller is sturdy and unobtrusive - it won't stick out in the garden and you're unlikely to damage it with anything short of a direct strike from a lawnmower blade.

Friendly to the environment and only a little bit mean to moles, voles and gophers, check out the Solar Mole Repeller at Buy.com.