Outdoor Solar Lighting

Over the past three years I have been trying out the small solar pagoda lights that are now available at mass retail stores. First, I tried a set from Target that melted in the sun. Not too good for a solar product. Then I tried the cheap plastic ones that are sold in the gardening center at Wallmart. The structure didn't melt, but the cheap solar cell on top of the unit disintegrated. Now the disfigured solar cell hardly charges up the two rechargeable batteries inside of the light. Last year we bought my Mother a set of the metal ones and they seem to be doing good. This year I have purchased two of them for about $10.00 each and they are a welcome addition to our back yard. I hope that these metal ones will not break down like the plastic ones. Time will tell.

It is nice to have them because I can move them any time without having to move wires. The light is not strong, as they have a small LED light in it. I prefer my wired 12 volt system that runs off of batteries and my larger solar panel. But I don't keep the larger lighting system on all of the time, so the small dim ones are constantly lighting up my pathways in the dark. I simply used the wired system found in any home center store, and took out the energy eating transformer. I hooked the lighting to my golf cart batteries which are charged daily by the larger solar panels. This gives me the added light in the yard whenever I want it, especially when guests arrive at the house.

I will add a post if anything changes, but I expect to get more of these metal solar lights from Wallmart, as much as I dislike that store (hate/love relationship).

Solar lighting of this type adds comfort and security to your yard. The head is easily disconnected from the post, so it could be taken into the house for several hours of emergency lighting in case of a power outage. My Mother says that the new lights in her yard is almost like having company on those lonely nights. Sometimes light just has that effect.

Please have a great day!

Web Page News

We hope you like our new web site pages at vegastrailer.com. They have been created to download faster and provide more valuable information. There is still a lot more to do but we are well on our way to a much better site. There is a news column on our Solar Living Page that you might find interesting. I will pick a few news articles that come across my desk and put them here for your interest. They will cover aspects of solar energy, energy topics and a few environmental topics. Because solar can benefit the drinking water situation in the world (pasteurizing and distilling) I will try to include water environmental issues in the list.

Let's go to Sol Fest!

Included in the list is a link to the Sol Fest in Northern California in August. Those of you in the Southern Nevada area, please take note: For several years now I have wanted to get together a bus load of people from the Las Vegas area to go to the festival. If you would like to take a little trip for 3 or 4 days (maybe we can hit San Francisco for a day) to Sol Fest, please let me know. If we can get enough people interested then we can shop around for some prices on transportation and lodging. If a long trip is not generally wanted, we could leave very early one morning and come back very late the same night. That would cut lodging expenses. Please let me know if you are interested. Michael

We wish to thank all those who attended last night's solar energy seminar. We would also like to thank Jordan and Chris from Las Vegas Solar Electric (LVSE) for their valuable advice to us. We are pleased to partner with such reputable fellas! (and they are good guys too). LVSE has featured our site on their links page. Thanks! We will place a link to their site soon. It takes a little longer for us because we don't have an internet guru on our staff. Just me. You can visit their links page here: Las Vegas Solar Electric

We will be scheduling a new solar energy basics class soon. This is a valuable two and a half hour class that covers many solar basics for those starting out on the solar learning curve. We will announce it on this web log page or you can sign up for an email announcement here: VTS Inquiry and sign-up page.

One of our Global Sun Ovens went out the door this morning. It will be in Suriname next week. Tune in for more up-to-the-minute updates soon. Rumor has it that we will be posted periodically direct from Suriname!

We also were contacted by a new solar cooking organization that is making a less expensive, yet quality, solar cooker. It is called the "Hot Pot". More on this new device as we hear about it. Have a great day!

Last call for the Grid-Tie Solar Energy Seminar tonight at 5:30 at Vegas Trailer Supply.

Over the last several months I have received information from an environmental organization called "WorldWatch Institute". Though political in nature, they have available information on Fighting Terrorism with Sustainable Development. If you are interested in reading their views please go to this page and click on the link in the information bar on the left of the page: WorldWatch Institute

Have a great day!

A customer that saw our solar cooking display at the Water District's Demonstration Gardens show last year is taking two solar cookers to a village in Suriname next week. We hope to hear of her successes during her visit. When we do, we will post her tales on this site. Please check back for updates.

We anticipate having a special promotion to get more Sun Oven's to this village. We will accept special donations at the store and we will have a portion of solar cooking sales go to a fund to buy more Sun Ovens. Details on shipping them to Suriname are in the works. We will let you know more as this story unfolds. The local Rotary Club donated the funds for the first two ovens. We thank them. Rotarians all over the world are actively engaged in solar cooking activities. Here are a few links:

Sun Ovens in Afghanistan
Rotary helps Sun Ovens International send cookers to Uganda
Rotary International sends Sun Ovens to Afghan refugees.
Rotary Club helps bring solar ovens to Third World
Solar Cooking in Turkey

There are many articles about the involvement of Rotary Clubs worldwide at the Solar Cooking Archive

By-the-way, we will be out of the Global Sun Oven for the next three or four weeks. Demand has exceeded the supply at Sun Oven's International. We are expecting four ovens on our next order, so if you want one reserved from this shipment please come to the store to place your order (or contact us).

Please have a good day!

Click to see the Press Release on the announcement of the Solar Energy Seminar planned for June 17th at Vegas Trailer.