Can solar garden lights catch fire?
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Installing outdoor garden LED solar lights and wondering can solar garden lights catch fire? then this article is for you.
In this article, I have braked down this question for you. So let’s dive in.
Key takeaway: Yes, solar garden lights can catch fire but the chances of it are very minimal.
How garden solar lights can catch fire?
The main reason which can ignite a fire in the garden solar lights is the short circuit and over heating of battery.
Battery
A faulty or leaking garden solar lights battery is one of the main reasons of fire ignition in sun energy powered garden lights.
Because of the portability and compactness reason solar garden lights are installed with NiCd or NiMH rechargeable batteries.
In the case of NiCd batteries the factors that can ignite fire in them are overheating of the cell.
When the cells of the NiCd battery will be overheated it may cause the leakage of battery fluid causing bursting and fire.
In the case of NiMH batteries that biggest fire causing factor is overcharging of the batteries. Overcharging them can result in the production of air pressure inside them leading to explosion.
If the NiMH battery is fully charged and it somehow got open then there is a possibility of fire.
You can see in this video uploaded by overunitydotcom that how a NiMH rechargeable battery caught fire when opened.
In the video he explains that the NiMH battery caught ignition because the battery was fully charged.
So if a NiMH battery is fully charged and leaking from somewhere it can possibly catch fire.
Heating of solar garden light’s body
The outer body of the sun energy powered garden lights can also ignite fire in them. Solar LED garden lights are generally made up of plastic. The plastic used in the garden sun powered lights is of different types.
Plastic can melt at high temperatures. Heating and melting of the plastic body can also lead to fire.
The melting of the upper plastic body of the garden solar lights can expose the battery to the direct sunlight. On coming in direct sunlight the battery can started heating up.
Again when the battery will be overheated it may leak causing fire.
Can solar garden lights catch fire in the night?
Yes, they can. Solar garden lights are made to work for night. In the daytime their batteries collect and store electrical charge and supply it to the garden solar powered LED lights in the night.
Faulty solar garden lights batteries can make the solar garden lights to catch fire in the night. There are some cases seen where the battery exploded in the night leading to fire.
How to prevent garden Solar lights from catching fire?
Although the chances of solar powered garden lights is very minimal but to protect them from fire you can ensure these things:
- Don’t let them overcharge.
- Keep them away from fire catching sources.
- Regularly replace the rechargeable battery.
- Keep the area around the solar lights clean.
Conclusion
Solar garden lights are a great option to light up the garden areas. Having them in the garden can add aesthetic looks to your space.
However while installing them one thing that worries is are they fire proof. Garden solar lights like other portable electronic devices uses rechargeable batteries to provide energy to the LED bulbs for illumination.
Major reason the solar garden lights can catch fire is when their batteries are mishandled.
This can be due to overheating, overcharging, or exposed to direct sunlight.
If your sun energy powered garden lights are charging and discharging properly there is no need to worry about fire.
The actual chances of garden solar lights catching fire are very rare. They are safe and easy to use bit exceptions do exist.