While selecting the lights for your lawn or garden, you have got many choices available in the market. People love to buy options that are easy to install with low maintenance. Solar lawn lights are the best choice due to no wiring and no upfront electricity cost.
Clean energy sources are in increasing demand due to their pollution-free nature. Solar energy is free to use because we do not need to feed any fuel to the solar panels. They use sunlight energy and convert it into electricity. We can use the power generated at the spot or store it in batteries for later use during the night.
You do not need the electrical wiring for solar lights throughout the lawn or garden. It saves your cost of electrical wiring and installations. You have another advantage of paying no monthly electricity bill because the solar panel installed on the lights charge their batteries. Modern solar lawn lights use LED bulbs with higher light intensity and low power ratings.
Solar lights can highlight the features of the landscape and make them visible during the night. They are not posing any harmful effects on the environment because they are using a clean energy source. The best part is that they are helping you live off-grid if you a fan of living off-grid.
Solar lights use solar panels to produce electrical energy during the daytime. Rechargeable batteries store the energy to make it available during the night. LED bulbs are used in the solar lawn lights, which use ten times less energy than incandescent bulbs. LED technology produces light without wasting much energy in the form of heat. These features make the solar lawn light reliable and long-lasting, typically work for the life of the solar light.
Before going into the detailed review of some of the best solar lawn light, I will help you know the features for selecting the best solar light.
A wide variety of solar lawn lights is available in the market. You can find them in different qualities, brightness, and working modes based on the price. You may have a wrong impression about them, in case you select a low-quality light.
You can buy solar lights for different purposes in your mind. You may use them for security, darkness, highlighting the featured areas, or illuminating the whole garden. For security purpose, you can select the solar lawn lights which have a motion sensor. They turn the lamp on if there is a movement near the solar light. They are much beneficial in that case because they are portable, and you can change their location.
Solar lawn lights are available for illuminating a spot. They focus the light on the specific area, highlighting the features of the landscape. You can use these spotlights to highlight the paintings on the garden walls or a monument.
You can select the solar lawn lights that illuminate the area around them in all directions. The covered area depends on the size of the LED lamp, solar panel, and battery. To illustrate a larger area, you can use many of these solar lawn lights at a suitable distance from each other.
Solar lawn lights are available in different colors suitable for formal functions or a party at your house. There are some options for solar lights that continuously change the color of the solar light.
When you need lights to look good for aesthetic purposes, solar lawn lights are a good option. They improve the looks of the landscape without any addition to the electricity bill in your expenses.
Battery backup is one of the primary considerations while selecting a solar lawn light. If you are buying them for the lawn's security and decoration is the secondary, you cannot compromise on the battery backup. It should have enough battery storage to illuminate the yard or garden for the whole night. You can choose a little smaller battery sized solar light if it has a motion-sensing feature. The light will turn off or dim if there is no motion in the garden. As someone comes in the motion sensor range, the light will turn on to secure the garden or house.
If the main reason behind purchasing a solar lawn light is to decorate or illuminate the garden, you can make a little compromise on the battery backup. The solar lawn light should have at least 6 to 8 hours of battery backup.
The battery backup also depends on the duration of daylight. In the winter, days become shorter, making the nights very long. It reduces the backup time of the solar lawn lights due to insufficient day length to fully charge the battery. The modern solar panels can charge the battery during the less-cloudy days.
Solar light should have automatic on/off features to turn off the solar light during the daytime. It helps to conserve the battery of the light and increases the backup time as well.
The availability of sunlight is a crucial factor for solar lawn lights. If you are putting your solar light in an open area of the garden, getting enough sunlight, they will work as desired. If the area of interest has the shadow of the trees or the nearby building, the solar light will not charge the battery during the day.
If you are living in an area where sunlight intensity is low due to cloudy weather all the time, I will suggest you not to use these solar lawn lights. It may be a waste of money for sunless cities to invest in solar lawn lights. One example is some areas of Seattle where days with sun in a year are not feasible for solar energy systems. Still, some people use them, but these solar energy systems are less efficient.
The quality of the materials used in the manufacturing of solar lawn lights is vital for solar light's overall quality. Most solar lawn lights are made of stainless steel or metal bronze, making them durable and bear the stresses. A stainless steel body will last longer than low-quality steel or iron body. Many solar light manufacturers also use impact-resistant ABS plastic to reduce production costs, which excludes rusting chances like in low-quality steel. The light's glass lens should be of pure glass as it improves the quality of light.
Stakes are one of the vital parts of the solar light to put it into the ground. They are made of high-quality plastic or stainless steel. If low-quality plastic is used, there are chances of breaking them while inserting the light post into the ground.
Solar lawn lights are available in many styles like classic, traditional, modern, and sleek designs. They are available in the form of fence light, lantern, and spotlights. You can choose a solar light according to your taste and mood.
There are designs and shapes available which can be mounted on the wall. Some others can be directly pushed into the ground in the shape of a disc. Most solar lawn lights have a post of 8 to 20 inches, which increases the height of the solar light, making it a good addition to the garden's aesthetics.
After knowing about a solar lawn light's required features, I will review some of the best solar lawn lights available in the market. I will cover their features, built quality, specifications, and pros and cons to buying these lights.
GardenBliss is one of the best solar lights brand available in the market. The one I am going to present here is made of ABS plastic, making it a long life solar light. The box has ten lights with rechargeable batteries. The beautiful design looks good in any landscape, making it the best choice for your garden.
You do not need to dig your garden for the installation of wiring. These lights are portable and can be installed anywhere in an outdoor place, having direct sunlight during the day. The solar light has a post and stake to put the light into the ground.
You do not need to turn it on every day in the evening or night. The solar lawn light has a light sensor installed on it to detect the day or night time. The sensor makes sure to turn on the solar light during the night automatically.
As it works on solar power, it is extremely environment-friendly. You do not need to worry about the electricity bill as well. After charging for six to eight hours during the day, the light gives you a backup of about 8 hours during the night.
NiMH batteries used in these solar lawn lights are promised to last longer than other solar lights. It has a double waterproof seal to withstand weather conditions like raining, snow, and water splashes. The manufacturer claims that the light can charge on cloudy and snowy days. The lamp post has two adjustable heights of 8 and 12 inches, which you can choose.
If you find any solar light issues, the supplier provides 24/7 support and a refund if your lights do not work correctly.
Hampton Bay solar lawn light is a perfect choice for design-conscious buyers having a quality trusted by many people. The water-patterned glass lens makes a beautiful and stunning lighting effect on the ground. The solar light comes in a pack of six lights, which will enhance the landscape of your lawn. Its attractive and durable construction includes a glass lens, a strong post, and a stake.
The solar panel on the top of the body charges the battery in the sunlight. The battery charges in about 6 hours on a sunny day and gives a backup of about 8 hours. It automatically turns on in the dark, making you hassle-free to turn it on and off every evening and morning. Each solar lawn light includes 6 AA batteries that are replaceable if they do not give a sufficient backup time in the night.
One drawback to using this solar light is that its size is small for brightening a large area. You will need to install solar lights at a suitable distance from each other to get the best results. Just stake them in the ground at the right location to get direct sunlight during the whole day.
The bottom of the light collects the rainwater, which needs to be manually drained. Overall the design is sturdy and will last longer than 3 to 5 years. The light will meet an average homeowner's needs due to its low brightness.
These elegant and traditionally designed solar lawn lights are made of stainless steel to make it last longer. A super bright white light coming out of these solar lights will illuminate your lawn in a perfect style. The lens used in the solar light is made of glass, which improves the reflection of light. A 400 mAh battery gives a backup of up to 10 hours after a full charge. It takes about 6 to 8 hours of a sunny day to charge the battery for better backup. I will recommend you to choose a place where the solar light can get direct sunlight for better charging of the battery.
A pack of these solar lights contains six solar lawn lights, each of one have an automatic on/off feature to save the battery life. The bronze metal finish gives it an elegant look that fits it in any background of the lawn. The ripple glass lens makes an attractive pattern on the ground, which provides you with a stunning and eye-catching view.
The 6 lumens solar light gives you enough brightness to light up your lawn. They might not give you enough backup time if you placed them incorrectly in a shaded area. The supplier is famous for replacing the faulty units if one does not work out of the box. It makes a buyer hassle-free while purchasing a product online.
ROSHWEY solar spotlight is an outdoor solar light with cool and unique features ever available in any solar lawn light. You can adjust the angle and position of the solar panel as well as the LED light. There are seven colors available in it with a single color, three auto-changing colors, and seven auto-changing colors. You can say that it has nine lighting modes and 18 high brightness LED beads. You can use it to illuminate the wall, statue, tree, or plant situated in the lawn or garden.
The material used in solar light is ABS plastic that is very strong and can bear the impacts. The solar spotlight can be rotated at a 90-degree angle while the solar panel can be adjusted at 180-degree. Moreover, the solar panel can be rotated 360-degree on the horizontal axis. The light comes with two installation options of inserting into the ground and mounting on the wall. These features increase the solar light's flexibility so that you can adjust the solar panel and light beam according to your needs.
A big battery of 2200 mAh can give a backup of about 10 hours at night. Due to its color-changing features, this solar light is suitable for party functions at your house. Even though these solar lights are a little expensive than other solar lights, their features make the price tag acceptable.
YUNLIGHTS ground solar light is a disc-shaped ground light that is great for highlighting the lawn's aesthetics. The only drawback is that these lights can only be installed in the soil. The waterproof body protects it from water, rain, and other environmental conditions. Each light has 5 LEDs installed to provide enough light to illuminate nearby features of the lawn. Six to eight hours of battery backup is expected with the 400 mAh battery. The solar light turns on and off automatically based on the time of the day. It helps to conserve the battery backup.
One pack includes four solar ground lights with plastic stakes. Plastic stakes are used to place them firmly on the ground while the stakes are inside the ground. When turned on in the night, the warm white light comes out of the solar light. Their backup time is less than the claimed hours due to their high brightness and smaller battery size.
While looking for solar lawn lights, you may encounter some common questions. Please find some of the frequently asked questions below, which will help you clear your mind about these solar lights.
Solar lawn lights are an essential part of your lawn or garden in this modern age. They do not put any extra electricity bill or electrical wiring cost on you. Solar panel's efficiency reduces due to dust. In that case, the battery will not charge during the day, and you will observe a drop in the backup time at night. Due to this reason, occasional cleaning is required once a week or after rain. Take a piece of soft cloth soaked in water and clean the surface of the solar panel.
The solar panel of the solar lawn light needs direct sunlight for charging the battery. If the building's shade is coming on to the solar panel, it will interrupt direct sunlight, reducing the efficiency of the solar panel and the solar light.
Battery size is the crucial point for selecting the solar lawn light. The solar lights having high brightness consume more battery. Due to this reason, they should also have a bigger battery. An example is ROSHWEY Outdoor Solar Spotlight, which I reviewed in the reviews section. It has a battery size of 2200 mAh compared to others having battery size in the range of 400 to 600 mAh.
These solar lawn lights do not require any repeated maintenance. If you find that your solar light is not giving you the expected backup, change its position to the location where it can get direct sunlight. If the issue is not resolved and battery backup is going down, replace the batteries. The batteries need to be replaced once in 2 to 3 years.
There are a lot of other options available online as well as in stores. It would be best to make your own choice based on your space, lighting effects, and features required in the solar light.
