There will come a time when humanity would have exhausted all of Earth’s resources; and fossil fuel is one of them. But why wait till the point of depletion? We can help salvage our environment in our own little ways. Outdoor solar lights would be a good place to start. If you are here to find out the best outdoor solar lights currently available in the market, you’re at the right location.

What Are Solar Lights?

In case you aren’t aware, solar lights, aka solar lamps/lanterns, comprise of an LED lamp, battery, solar panels, and charge controller. This lighting system runs on the electricity generated from batteries, which are charged using a solar photovoltaic panel. In simple words, it is a system that uses the sun’s renewable energy contrary to the conventional lighting system which uses electricity from non-renewable resources, thereby destroying our planet.

Why Should You Use Outdoor Solar Lights?

You perhaps already know the answer to this. But just to elucidate its importance a bit more, outdoor solar lights lend a hand in lighting up your balcony area or the pathway along the lawn area at night, be it for decoration or for strong illumination. You can have them fixed virtually anywhere!

These lights are environmental-friendly, they slash your electricity bills, they are super easy to install, and they barely require any maintenance. It is true that they can be quite expensive to set up at firs, but once that is done, you’ll be surprised at how cost-effective the system really is in the longer run.

A few other benefits of using outdoor solar lights are:

• Can run irrespective of power outages
• Does not pollute the surroundings
• Does not belch greenhouse gases

Our List of the Best Outdoor Solar Lights – 

Coming to the essence of this article, there is a plethora of options out there in the market. If you’re a first time-buyer, it can be quite confusing as to which one would suit your needs the best. Hence, we’ve done all the research for you and have come up with a list of our favorite outdoor solar lights.

1. URPOWER Motion-Sensor Solar Lights (Pack of 4):

This product from URPOWER is currently one of the top-rated ones, and for good reason. They are super-bright, weather resistant, and can be placed in various areas like your garden, driveway, aisle, patio, or deck. It comes with an auto-switch that comes on at night when a movement is detected, and turns off as soon as the motion stops. URPOWER motion-sensing solar lights boasts a sensing range of about 10 feet with a 120-degree wide angle. Their large solar panels last up to 5 years and the LED bulbs will last up to 50,000 hours. As far as brightness setting is concerned, you get two modes namely, off and bright. Once fully charged, you get up to 12 hours of illumination.

2. Kemeco Lamp Post Solar Light:

This lamp post light is super easy to install. All you need to do is follow the installation manual and set it up using screws, sans wires. The Kemeco Lamp Post light comes with 6 powerful LEDs (100 lumen), rechargeable battery, and 4 extra large solar panels for providing maximum illumination. It looks very elegant, thanks to the cast-aluminum lamp-post, ripple glass, and square-shaped planter in black. The best part? It does not need any maintenance once it has been installed! The lamp post can be fixed along the pathway, street, patio, or yard.

3. Mpow Solar String Lights:

Want to create a nice ambience in your garden? Do have a look at the solar string lights by Mpow. These lights are inexpensive, yet of very high quality. They are about 33-feet long made of flexible copper wire, available in a pack of 2 and 4 (100 LED bulbs in each pack), and are great for decorating your lawn, patio, gate, porch, and yard for special occasions or casual evenings. They emit a soft warm white glow while offering 8 different illumination modes including twinkle, steady on, chasing, fading slowly, fading, waves, combination, and fireflies. Its solar panel gives off energy for up to 10 hours of use upon a single charge. The Mpow string lights come on at night and turn off during the day automatically. What’s more? They’re both, waterproof and heat-resistant.

4. InnoGear Solar Spotlights:

A hugely versatile product, the solar spotlights from the house of InnoGear are perfect for enhanced brightness to highlight a particular area such as the driveway, pathway, yard, pool, and garden You can install them either on a wall or in the ground (for landscape lighting) using the 2-in-1 tool. These come in a pack of 4 and offer two hues namely, white and warm white. The InnoGear Spolights feature frosted solar panels which do not require any protective film. The lights are IP65 waterproof and heatproof with 4 bright LEDs providing a lumen output of 50 lumens each. To boot, you get two levels of brightness adjustment settings to highlight a spot and set the solar panel angle in a way that it gets maximum sun exposure. These lights come with a built-in lithium ion rechargeable battery, offering a fairly long working time. Remember to switch on the lights before use as they are too sensitive to brightness and won’t turn on by themselves during the day.

5. Maggift Hanging Solar Lights (Dual Use):

These lights come in a pack of 2 with the option of either 1 shepherd hook and 1 stake or 2 shepherd hooks. They are extremely easy to install in that you can simply hang them on the branches or use the stakes to fix them in the ground. They are ideal for decorating outdoor areas like gardens, porch, yard, and pathways. However, they may not be the best option for bright illumination as they a emit soft glow which is better for adding to the ambience. These lights come with insulation trips which you must remove (turn in clockwise motion) before charging the unit. Note that you get a 180-day warranty with this product.

You can also check out the Retro Hanging Lights (Solar) by Maggift. These can be hung on trees or porches using the hang-ring or be placed on table tops and ledges. They add an ambient glow to the outdoor area, making it look super pretty, without any installation hassle.

6. Deneve Flag Pole Solar Light:

If you want to show off your flag with pride, then the Deneve Flag Pole solar light is worth considering. This needs to be installed atop your flag pole instead of on the ground. You can do so without many tools just by spinning the ball shaft and the nut to remove them from the pole, placing the lights’ mouth, and re-attaching the ball shaft and nuts to the pole. The Deneve flag pole light emit bright light with LEDs containing more photovoltaic cells for a better and longer performance. You need to switch on the light during installation for activating the sensors. Ensure that you check the specs to confirm whether the light can be affixed onto your flag pole.

Buying Guide for Outdoor Solar Lights:

Unless you have shopped for outdoor solar lights before, it can be quite confusing to understand which one you should buy. To make sure that you make the right purchase, here’s a buying guide which explains the aspects you need to keep in mind in order to make the final decision –

1. Types of Outdoor Lights:

One of the most important factors to consider is the type of outdoor lights you’re looking to buy. From gardens to pathways to patio, outdoor solar lights can be installed in any place you wish to illuminate. The type of lights you need will depend upon not only the area you wish to light up but also your purpose of lighting; whether for security, decoration, or just increased brightness. There are typically about 9 different types of outdoor lights that you can get. 

• Path Lights: As the name suggests, path lights will illuminate the walkways in your lawn/garden. You can even install them along your staircase. These will turn on by themselves right after sun-set and turn off once their batteries are drained of all the pre-stored energy. Path lights come in various styles and designs. You can have them fixed at a certain distance from each other as they have small solar panels affixed atop each view. This way, they would look better than when they’re placed extremely close to each other.

You can also get other garden lights. However, they’re slightly less bright compared to path lights as they’re mainly used for decoration or to illuminate plant beds in the night.

• Hanging Solar Lamps: Hanging solar lights are of great help during a power outage. They are quite easy to use and can be installed in any place with hooks. You can also add a nice touch to your garden by hanging them on a tree branch. These lights are very portable which means that you can rearrange them depending upon your need.

• Security/Motion-Sensing Lights: Security solar light system has witnessed a steady rise in popularity owing to its function. These lights turn on as soon as they catch a movement. This keeps trespassers at bay. Some of them also come on when you exit or enter your home premises. Since security lights don’t stay on all through the night, the batteries are seldom drained of all the stored power. This ensures safety and security of your family at any given time. All you need to do is place these lights strategically so that they get sufficient exposure to the sun.

• Flag-pole Lights: Got a flag-pole around your home? Well, you can get solar powered flag lights to light up the flag. These lights can be fixed either on the ground or to the flag itself. Some lights are also remote-mounted. For small flags, a wide beam floodlight placed onto the pole is adequate enough whereas larger flags may require narrow beam floodlights.

• Wall Lamps: Wall lamps are ideal for those who have ample amount of wall space around their house. They come in all shapes and sizes and generally don’t require too much expertise for installation. Wall lamps can be placed right outside the main door to illuminate the entrance, or on any of the walls in the yard area. However, if you’re planning to move any time soon, it may not be a good idea to get these as they can’t simply be lifted and mounted elsewhere. You will need to go through with the whole process if you plan to re-install them.

• Spotlights: Most of you would know what purpose spotlights serve. They come with small solar panels and batteries while offering excellent illumination in an area that you wish to accentuate. You can install these in your lawn, carport, or walkways. The best part about them is that their solar panels can be placed independent of the light so you can have them fixed in a place that gets more sun exposure. Keep in mind that spotlights are relatively more expensive as they are the brightest of the lot.

• Lamp post Lights: If you wish to improve your landscape lighting system, you may want to consider getting lamp post solar lights. These come in elegant designs and work with the same power. You can place them along pathways, or even near your patio. These lights not only add style but also security to your house by keeping the area well-lit.

• String Solar Lights: String lights (popularly also known as fairy lights) are primarily used for decorating gardens, patios, and decks as they add a warm ambient glow to the area. These lights are tiny and are evenly spaced along a cord. They could be either warm white or colorful.

2. Battery:

Batteries are yet another important aspect to consider when buying outdoor solar lights. You need to check the amount of time the battery takes to charge fully and the amount of time it lasts before draining out. Note that most of the batteries will last between 4-6 hours. Solar lights with lithium-ion batteries are preferable as they allow you to recharge them whenever necessary.

3. Settings:

Though not as vital as the first two components, greater number of adjustment settings can come very handy. Some solar lights allow you to dim or increase the brightness of the light in order to adjust the glow. Another useful feature is auto on/off. Lights that come with this feature come on at dusk and turn off at dawn on their own.

4. Lighting Range:

Depending upon the area and the amount of illumination you require, you can get solar lights with a lighting range of 1-2 feet, all the way up to 10 feet. If you need maximum illumination and/or added security around your premise, its best to install solar lights in close proximity to one another.

5. Cost:

Price of outdoor solar lights varies greatly based on the quality of the photovoltaic cells and the size of the LED bulbs. If you’re looking for lights that offer more brightness, you will need to buy high-quality photovoltaic cells and big LED bulbs. This also means that you will have to spend a bit more.

6. Hue:

Depending upon the purpose of buying outdoor solar lights, you must figure out whether you prefer white light or warm/yellowish light. Most of the solar lights emit white light. Therefore, you must check the package for labels such as “soft white” or “amber” if you don’t want a daylight white hue.

Summing Up:

Outdoor solar lights are one of the trendiest product categories at the moment. We hope that you find our list helpful. While solar lights do not consume electricity, they usually have high initial costs. That said, it is a brilliant way to contribute to our planet while reducing your own long-term expenses. A few other outdoor solar lights that you maybe interested to check out are garden lights by SolarGlow, Litom Motion-Sensor Lights, Geloo Color Changing Lights, and Moonrays Hanging Solar Lights. Do remember to pore over our buying guide to understand your requirements better and make a suitable purchase.