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Solar Garden Fountains: The Green ChoiceSolar Garden Fountains: How often it is that a garden, beautiful though it be, will seem sad and dreary and lacking in one of its most gracious features, if it has no water. - Pierre Husson 
A solar fountain is a great way to add some life and movement to your garden, as well as the peaceful sound of running water. There are many shapes, sizes and styles but they all share the same basic components.What Are The Advantages? The benefits of a solar powered garden fountain are that it will continue to operate year after year without requiring any electrical supply and therefore will not add to your power bill. The fountain may only use a small amount of energy but over time this can become substantial. There is also the issue of safety for children. Mains powered electrical pumps require an electrical cable from the house that is supplied with the high voltage of the mains supply. If the cable is damaged and handled it would be very dangerous. By comparison the current generated by the solar fountain is negligible and is therefore a safer option. How Do They Work? Solar fountains use a photovoltaic solar cell panel to supply electricity to a water pump. The panels are either built into the fountain or are separate from it and need to be connected to the fountain with a power cable. The Pump
The Solar Panel The solar array that drives the pump is usually small since little energy is needed to drive the pump. Larger solar panels will work more effectively in cloudy weather but will have a higher cost. If the panel is built in to the fountain it will need to be positioned in a place that receives a fair degree of sunlight. If you want your solar garden fountain in a shady place then it would be best to buy a unit with a separate panel that is then plugged into the pump via a power cable. Clearly the fountain will not operate at night time. As it is also a working component of the fountain, the solar panel must be of good build quality if it is to have a long life. The quickest way to check this is to find out the length of the warranty on the panel. It is worth paying a little more for a good quality fountain than have to take it back to the supplier because one of the components has failed. Return from Solar Garden Fountains to Solar Garden Decor or return to the Green Planet home page for more Solar Power Facts.
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In good quality fountains the water pump is usually an impellor type. This pump has a spinning turbine that is driven by a magnetic field generated by an electric motor inside the sealed casing of the pump. This means that if the pump becomes blocked there will be no damage to the motor. It is well worth checking the warranty on the pump of the fountain you are considering buying as a good quality unit will function indefinitely.