When you are preparing food in your kitchen ambient light from ceiling fixtures is often obscured by upper cabinets. In this case you can find yourself cutting vegetables or doing other tasks in a shadow which can often be frustrating or dangerous.
Adding under cabinet lighting is a relatively easy process if you have access to electric but even if you don’t there are some lights that run off of battery voltage.
Most kitchens will have a stove vent fan which can be used to provide electricity to your under cabinet lights.
If you are planing on installing a tile back splash you can fish wires through the wall from the range hood and then cover it with no problem. If you do not have a range hood you will need to find a circuit other then your stove’s to provide electricity to each light.
A variety of different light sources are available from Halogen which is great for bright task lighting to florescent which will provide general purpose lighting and LED sources that can provide decorative lighting.
The least expensive and easiest to maintain of the three will be florescent lighting.
It is best to purchase a unit that is enclosed with a cleanable plastic cover.
Some lights can be controlled by switches on individual units or you can wire to a wall dimmer switch if your lighting type allows it.
Most florescent lights can not be dimmed.
Moldings can be added to the bottom of cabinets to hide lighting units.
If you are renting you may want to install lights that plug into outlets.
Remember if you are doing the electrical wiring yourself each connection must be terminated inside a box. This will mean that each unit will need its own wall box or the wiring must terminate inside of the unit similar to a bathroom vanity light.
Always use proper wire nuts and follow your local electrical code.
For insurance reasons you may need to have this work performed by a professional.