Thanks missingtheobvious, I did check out those old threads already about the "superior" solar lights. Those threads were helpful in that I did learn that the more light-emitting diodes (LED's) in a solar light fixture, the brighter it is, which makes sense. Also found out that the products that have rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries seem to work best. I did look into the solar lights at the two companies that were recommended on those threads, Frontgate and Grandin Road. They actually specify the wattage and number of LED's in their products on their websites. So far, most products from other companies that I've looked at on the net don't list the number of LED's in each fixture. Some web shopping still has room for improvement I think. Unfortunately, most of the products that I liked the look of from Frontgate and Grandin Road are a little out of our price range, as our budget for this project is less than $100. Something to save up for maybe for a future purchase. For now, I'm planning to take a look at an H.D. product in the store that I think may have at least two LED's in one fixture. The lights come in a set of two, and the set comes with four nickel-cadmium batteries, so it's possible that each lighting fixture has two LED's. Hard to tell just from the web, without looking at the box in the store. The product got good reviews on the website, and most of the reviewers were pleasantly surprised with how bright they are. Will post a photo if we end up purchasing the H.D. product and are happy with the brightness. Thanks again.

We have a streetlight on the corner of our lot. It is supposed to shine down the street but when they changed the pole 2 years ago the idiot that put up the light angled it toward our yard. There is plenty of light in our front yard but It has never deterred the night time feeders In fact I had a terrible time this year with earwigs in the bed that's closest to the light. I tend to agree with flora that the light is tipping the scales in favor of the lizards--Nice,easy insect pest control!!

Hi, Have no idea about which is best to cook on. Some thoughts on the CO2 emissions front: -- If I got the website right, the electric grill uses 1300 watts when the element is on, which is probably nearly all the time its cooking. If you grill for (say) 2.5 hours, thats (2.5h)(1.3kw) = 3.25 KWH per grilling session. Your 3.5 KW PV array probably generates about 17 KWH on a good sunny day, so the grill session would use (3.25/17) = 20% of its total output for the day. This may put you in the not so zero for that day? Each KWH that comes from the grid results in an average of 1.5 lbs of CO2 emissions (this is the average for the US). -- If a propane grill used the same amount of energy, it would result in about a third the CO2 emissions, but I suspect it will use more energy (and also cook better?). -- Using wood or charcoal is actually a net zero carbon emissions, since you are just returning to the atmosphere the CO2 that the tree took out of the atmosphere and stored in its wood as it grew. This is not counting the CO2 involved in transporting the charcoal. Sounds like a great house -- good job! Gary

Came to this site hoping someone found decent quality solar garden lights. My experience has been that they are junk and a waste of money with fails right out of the box, more fails within a month and all fail not much after that. I guess low wattage hardwired is only way to have reliable lighting. You'd think by now, solar would be more reliable and better quality but I guess, people keep buying and replacing them so why would mfr improve the quality. Very frustrating.