Solar Birdbaths
The Solar Spa Birdbath
The San Remo Solar Birdbath Fountain
by Michael and Diane Porter
We've looked for a long time for a birdbath with a solar-powered fountain. Now there are several. In this review we'll compare two of them to each other: the Solar Spa Birdbath (left) and the San Remo Solar Birdbath Fountain (right).
 
(We'll cut to the chase here and tell you that we think the Solar Spa is made better and is easier to keep clean. More about that below. But each bath has its strong points.)
Both are good-looking, pedestal-mounted baths. The designs are similar. The following paragraphs describe the features that both baths share.
How the solar baths are alike
Each has a fountain feature that sprays or squirts recirculated water. Because it's using the same water over and over, the baths do not have to be hooked up to a hose.
Add water when the level gets low or when you wish to clean the bath. Otherwise, no hose is necessary.
Because the power for the spray comes from the sun, there are no cords to plug in (or trip over in the garden).
In the center of the bowl (under the water) is a black plate that is a solar panel, which captures energy from the sun. The fountain works only when the sun is shining directly on it. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon, when the sun is at a low angle, the fountain will work feebly or not at all.
If a cloud comes over, the fountain stops spraying instantly. If you shade the solar panel with your hand—no spray! (You can surprise your friends by waving your arms and telling the fountain to begin or stop. It will obey your command, if you're unshading and shading the solar panel with your hand.)
But when the sun shines on the solar panel, there's a lovely spray. A nice feature for birds and people to enjoy during the heat of the day.
Where's the pump?
It's under the solar panel. If you lift out the solar panel plate, you'll see a deep reservoir for water. In other words, the bath has a deep center, which is concealed by the solar panel.
The small pump hangs from the solar panel in this reservoir.
It's important to keep the reservoir full when the pump is operating. If you run the pump when it's dry, the pump will be destroyed. (Replacement pumps are available.) Since the reservoir holds quite a bit of water, it's easy to keep the pump in water. As long as there's water in the birdbath, there's water in the reservoir. If you go away for a few days, you'll want to disconnect the pump.
How do the baths differ, and which is better?
 They're both handsome, but we give the edge on good looks to the San Remo. The terra cotta color is very pleasing.
We also appreciate the much larger reservoir capacity of the San Remo. If you are in a hot, dry climate, your bath will be able to go longer between refills. That's less work, and it's safer for the pump. So that's another plus for the San Remo.
However, there are some problems with the San Remo.
Our main gripe is that it is difficult to completely empty the San Remo bath by turning it upside down. Most of the water comes out when you upend it, but because of the way the bath is molded, some of the water gets trapped inside, making it hard to clean the bath with a complete change of water.
The manufacturer insists that if you flip it over fast a couple of times, nearly all the water will come out. We didn't test that ourselves, because we gave away the fountain before we tried that. (We explained all of our complaints about the bath, but the recipient was delighted to get it anyway.)
You could also empty the reservoir if you got a little hand siphon pump at the hardware store. They're quite inexpensive little plastic jobs. (Seems like we got one for about $5 a couple of years back.) Then you could siphon out the water that lingers in the reservoir. If you love the looks of the San Remo a lot, no doubt it's worth the extra trouble.
The inner surface of the reservoir is rather rough and has inaccessible areas, so cleaning it out thoroughly isn't particularly easy. The manufacturer recommends a brush and points out that the rough surface is caused by the fibers that give this bath its strength.
Another complaint that we had with the San Remo bath was that the solar panel didn't fit exactly into the opening for it. We must say in its defense that it almost fits, and it's not very noticeable that the fit isn't perfect. But we would have preferred it to snap into place neatly. When we contacted the manufacturer about that, we were told that we could send it back to them, and that they would replace the solar panel or the bowl so that they fit. The manufacturer also said that they would pay the shipping both ways.
As I mentioned above, we'd already given the bath away, so we didn't get a chance to see how well the manufacturer would have performed on that promise.
We also found it a little bit tricky to screw the basin onto the base. If you do it too hard you can get it stuck and need tools to get it unstuck and lined up right again. So if you get this bath, use a little care and finesse when assembling the parts.
Despite our misgivings, we must admit that the San Remo Solar Bath is a beautiful object to look at, and it's lovely accent in the garden.
Ah, the Solar Spa!
 On the whole we prefer the Solar Spa bath. It's easy to empty completely, and the reservoir has a smooth inner surface that is easy to brush clean.
All the parts of the bath fit together nicely, too.
Another advantage of the Solar Spa is that it includes a vacation panel, which is a plate shaped like the solar panel but without the solar cells. If you're going away or can't tend to the bath for a few days, you can replace the solar panel with the vacation panel. Then you can leave the bath full, the deep center will be out of sight, and there won't be a problem with the pump if the bath happens to run out of water. We think that's a nice touch.
The Solar Spa is the bath we have chosen for our own garden. Here it is with a couple of visitors, one day when I had taken the pump and fountain out to clean them. The male bluebird (on the right) brought one of his babies and showed him where to get a drink and a bath.
 
Review by Michael and (mostly) Diane Porter © 2008.
Photo of bath with bluebirds © 2008 Michael and Diane Porter.
All rights reserved.
Other photos of birdbaths are courtesy the manufacturers.
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