Solar Fountains Bring The Beauty Of Water Fountains To Your Home Without Impacting Your Electric Bill
Solar-powered water features, as the name suggests, are powered by the sun using solar panels. Admittedly, we are running into a little gray area here. Solar-powered water fountains have limited functionality as “indoor fountains”. They do need sunlight to run, so there will be limitations on where you can put them. That said, a solarium, patio, or any room or enclosure that gets good sunlight would be a good place for a solar fountain. They would, of course, also go great on a deck, patio, or in your garden.
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Many Solar Powered Water Fountains Do Not Need To Be In Direct Sunlight
Some solar water features need to be in direct sunlight to function because the solar panels are built directly into the fountain itself. On the other hand, some models of solar-powered fountains have solar panels that are separate from the fountain. The solar panels are connected to the fountain with a 10-foot long cable allowing you flexibility in placing your fountain. The water fountain can be in the shade as long as the solar panel is in the sun. Some models even have extension cables that can be purchased to increase your flexibility even further.
Most of the solar fountains run directly off of the sunlight. When the panel is out of the sunlight the fountain does not work. Unfortunately, this means that they do not work at night. With this in mind, some models also come with an AC adapter (or one can be purchased separately) to allow you to plug in your fountain to an electrical outlet. A few solar fountains actually have solar batteries that charge and you can turn the fountain on and off when you wish.
4 Tier Single Cascade Solar Powered Water Fountains
Dimensions – 13 – 18″ long x 13 -16″ wide x 21″ high — Fountain Weight: 24 lbs. — Ship Weight: 28 lbs. The bottom basin is 15″ diameter Solar panel (with 10-foot cable) and AC adapter included.
These single cascade solar features (shown above), do not require electricity, just sunlight. Each comes with its own solar panel that can be stacked, mounted or set in the sunlight for optimum exposure. These fountains are self-contained and do not require tools or any type of installation. All of these cascade fountains come with a solar panel and 10 foot (or longer) cable. You just need to pick the location for the fountain and the solar panel, then just add water, and you are done. Most of these run directly off of the sunlight and do not store power. An AC power adapter, which will allow you to plug the fountain into an electrical outlet, can be purchased separately.
Rocks may be placed (gently) into the lower bowl to enhance the look.
A short video on assembling one of these cascade solar fountains:
Solar on Demand Technology
Many solar fountains only run off of direct sunlight. Their solar panels do not store power, so they do not function at night, or on overcast days. With Solar on demand technology, the solar panels can be set to charge batteries that will store the power for use when you want it. For example, you may want to ensure that the fountain is running for a dinner party you are planning on having in the evening, or you may want it to run on a cloudy day. Typically the solar panel can be set to run the fountain off of direct sunlight, or it can be set to absorb and store the power in rechargeable batteries.
In general, the fountain can operate for around 4 hours on a full battery charge. Most newer fountains use standard rechargeable batteries, so they are easily replaced. It is also possible to purchase a battery charger that will charge the solar panel by plugging it into a standard wall outlet (you can’t run the fountain directly off of the AC, though).