The heart of any garden is the plants, but water features can make the different between ordinary gardens and real show stoppers. Whether you want simple features like birdbaths or small fountains, or a full-scale pond water garden, there are many solar products available.

And why go solar?

There are lots of good reasons, including lessening impacts to the global environment and your own property.

In addition, solar water features usually are far more flexible than their low-voltage counterparts. And don’t forget about safety!

There are a lot of products out there, and a variety of prices. Here’s an overview of the benefits of solar versus non-solar options, what types of products are readily available online, and some things to look for when buying solar water features.

First, the upfront costs of solar vs. electrical or battery powered water features are comparable, but solar products mean you can relax to the soothing sounds of water without having to worry about your electric bill!  Here are some other reasons why solar water features are such good options.

Solar Has Less Environmental Impacts, Less Disruptions to Your Landscape!

If you want a traditional water fountain, you’ll find that you are somewhat limited in term of where you can place the fountain. You have two choices:  placing the fountain near an existing outdoor power supply and watching out for the cords when you do maintenance, or installing an underground power supply, which is disruptive to your existing landscape.   Sometimes, you’ll also need plumbing to supply the fountain with water

Most solar water features can be installed in minutes without disrupting your lawn, garden or hardscape.

Some solar water fountains have panels discretely incorporated into the design. This means the unit is self-contained; the only downside is that they must be placed in an area that gets a lot of sun.

Others solar water fountains have solar panels that can be set several feet away from the fountain, with a cable connecting the two. This allows you to place the panel in an area with lots of sun, and the fountain itself in an area with partial or even full shade.

Not only can the cable easily be covered by mulch or hidden by pants, you can easily move the fountain around.  This flexibility is a great bonus if your landscape has different focal points through the garden season, or if you just want to experiment to find out where it looks best.

Many traditional fountains also require an independent source of water. This means the added cost and disruptions for plumbing to provide water to the fountain. In contrast, solar water fountains usually have reservoirs of water continuously circulated by an internal pump. They’re easy to install on your own, without plumbers or electricians.

Safety

Solar products work by solar panels and often (but not always, see below) batteries.  While it’s never smart to be reckless when using any low-voltage power with water, solar means you can dig at will, never worrying about a shovel or backhoe hitting and exposing live electrical wires.

And, the nature of solar water features design, especially floating pumps and lights, means that there is no danger of shock:  they are safe to use in ponds, pools and spas!

Have a Great Patio, Deck or Walkway but Something’s Missing?

One of our friends has a hardscape business and one of his biggest complaints is that customer often don’t think about, or don’t want to pay for lighting or other features when they originally design and contract new terraces, cobblestone walkways/driveways or stone walls.

Once they see how nice the project looks, usually well into construction, they decide that lighting or water features would really showcase the new stonework or to add a finishing touch.

Depending on how far the project has progressed, solar is a great alternative for lights and water fountains: no change orders; no additional permitting; and redoing work already completed to accommodate electrical supplies or plumbing.

Variety:  You Bet!

Solar water fountains and other water features come in a variety of choices. Some are stand-alone fountains and many are combination birdbath/fountains.  Other are specifically designed to go into a body of water.  And a body of water doesn’t necessarily mean a pond.  Lots of solar water fountains can be placed in a large container, such as a planter with the drainage hole sealed.

If you are a water gardener, solar products offer you lots of options, including:

Solar water pumps not only circulate water, many have a variety of fountain heads and lighting features to show-off your pond at night.

Solar features can add oxygen to your pond, often necessary to maintain the health of your water garden. While plants produce oxygen during the day as a part of photosynthesis, at night plants actually suck oxygen from the water, inviting trouble.

Floating lights and fountains can add some some pizzazz to your landscape, whether used in your pond, pool or spa.

Batteries: Key Factor in Cost and in Performance

While there is a lot of variety in solar water pumps and solar water fountains, whether or not solar water features have batteries is something you should look for.

Below are two floating lily pad solar fountains that are very similar in appearance, at least at first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The difference:  The one on the left has a battery, so it works at night. It also has a light, which makes it really stand out when it’s dark.

Water features with batteries (sometimes called “on-demand”) generally cost more, but offer more options to you as a consumer. Other solar fountains or pumps only have solar panels, and only work when the panel receives sunlight.

Batteries generally mean that the product costs more money, but batteries mean that the unit will work during daylight hours while storing energy.  The solar panel powers the water feature when the panel is absorbing sunshine and stores power into the battery so the feature works at night or during cloudy days.

How long products will work with on stored power in batteries varies quite a bit. The good news? Your merchant should be able to tell you how long the charge should last.

Another bit of good news:  most solar water fountains with batteries also have on/off switches that let you decide when to use the power. Some even have timers incorporated into their design so that you can program them to work at pre-determined intervals each day.  This is great to maintain the health of your ponds when you are on vacation.

If you see two products that appear to be very similar but one costs more than the other, make sure you read the product description carefully to see whether the product has a battery. (If you can’t tell, contact the retailer who should be able to tell you.)

The Solar Power Oxygenator showed above is the night time model, and contains a battery. It costs about $50 more than the one that only works during the daytime.  In fact, it only works when sun is shining on the solar panel.  (Maybe that’s why it looks like some algae is growing in the product photo?)

Another manufacturer makes two models of most of their heavy duty Water Pumps with Fountains, and there is a considerable price difference between the two.  The higher price ones have batteries that store power, LED lights to illuminate fountains at night, and timers that let users determine when the pump will operate.

If you have a significant investment in fish or plants, you may well be far better off to spend the money and get a pump that works at night.  Many times, however, it’s a choice for the individual gardener.  Like all solar products, extra money usually means extra features.

If you don’t need or want fountains or pumps to work at night, you’ll be fine with the lower priced model. But if you want to know that the fountains will be working during evening events, pay the extra money for the models with batteries.

Copyright 2012, AM McElroy, www.SolarFlairLighting.com,  www.SolarLightingSmart