If you're old enough, or maybe just a fan of good holiday movies, you'll remember the scene from 'A Christmas Story' when the dad plugs in too many electrical cords into one outlet. The whole house goes dark after a flash of light. That scene has much more truth to it than many people realize. Every year, hundreds of homes are burned to the ground because someone plugged too many strings of lights into one outlet. The solution for many this year is solar powered Christmas lights.

With the average decorating household using somewhere between five and 20 strings of lights, a lot of extra power ends up going through strings of lights. If this power isn't handled carefully, disaster can result. Solar powered Christmas lights use the free energy from the Sun to recharge batteries which are used at night to power the lights. This keeps the electric bill down as well as making it unnecessary to remember to turn it on or off. No more finding extra outlets to plug in long strings of lights. No more do you have to plan where to put the lights based on where you have an outlet, or run an extension cord out to a tree in the yard.

When you use power from the Sun, you help the environment, your wallet, and you make your house look festive. Just think-- lights that can be installed anywhere without the mess of extension cords, power strips and blown fuses. Tidy and festive, you should check these out this year.