There's no need to live in the dark, try solar lights! It has become very clear that solar lights are the lights of the future. Not only are they eco-friendly, but they are also cost-effective, easy to install, and energy-efficient.
Create an elegant garden pathway, set the mood on your back porch, or just add a complementary finishing touch to your beautiful yard with outdoor solar lights. They add a touch of softness to your yard come dusk, help highlight the features you want to show off, and even lend a bit of mystery and romance to your space.
Need someone to light the way on your outdoor solar light buying journey? You've come to the right place. This comprehensive guide includes in-depth reviews on the best outdoor solar lights of 2020 along with helpful purchasing tips.
Backyard Boss Top Five Outdoor Solar Lights for 2021
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Why You Can Trust Us
When it comes to guides on lights, Backyard Boss is a shining star. Our team of experts has tried all of the best outdoor lights on the market.
Whether you're looking for advice on outdoor Christmas lights, reviews on the best outdoor flood lights, or an explanation on the differences between halogen and LED lights, we've got a guide for you.
Our real passion though, and my personal specialty is outdoor solar lights. We've created guides on how to charge solar lights without the sun, how to clean solar lights, the best solar flagpole lights, and the best solar path lights, to name just a handful.
We'll light the way on your outdoor solar light buying journey, illuminating the best options that outshine all of the others on the market. If you thought that was too many light puns in one sentence, wait until you read the rest of the guide because I've only used them lightly so far.
Best All-Around Outdoor Solar Lights
These highly rated lights have a durable design and are beyond easy to use and install.
- Long-lasting
- Durable stainless steel material
- Good ground lighting width
- Does not charge well without direct sunlight
- LED housing not a super snug fit
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Why We Like It: These extremely popular solar path lights have a durable stainless steel design and emit a cool, white light in a patterned weave that is beautiful to behold
Since they are a bit taller than many other brands, the lighting is more widely dispersed. Installing them is beyond simple: Just stake them into the ground along a path, next to your driveway, or through your garden. Using these lights is even simpler because they are completely automated in response to daylight.
Who Should Buy It: This is a good choice for anyone who wants a basic, no-frills path lighting design with easy-to-use, bright light.
Best Multipurpose Outdoor Solar Spotlights
This durable and versatile solar spotlight is completely adjustable based on what you want it to illuminate.
- Both panel and lights are adjustable
- Completely weatherproof
- Can be used as a path or spotlight
- Light may fade with use
- Higher setting won't last through the night
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Why We Like It: These versatile outdoor solar spotlights can be installed by being staked or mounted and are completely adjustable.
With numerous settings, you can brighten and dim these lights based on whether you want to use them as a path light or spotlight. Their beams can reach as far as 30 feet away, while the brightest setting can reach 15 feet away. They provide a bright pathway surface, although they may be too bright for subtle garden lighting, even when set on low.
Who Should Buy It: These lights are a great choice for people looking for a task light to brighten up certain features on their home, or in their garden.
Best Outdoor Solar String Lights
These outdoor solar string lights are great accent lights for front or back porches, creating a subtle but elegant ambiance year-round.
- Eight different light modes
- Will charge in indirect lighting
- Beautiful accent lights
- Cycles back to first mode after each day
- Not super bright
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Why We Like It: These gorgeous accent lights look incredible wrapped around trees, decks, or garden features emitting a low nighttime glow.
These solar string lights are 72 feet long with 200 LED bulbs. They have eight different modes that will fit whatever ambiance you're trying to create. They come in your choice of colors: warm white, cool white, and colored bulbs. Because the light they emit is faint, they work best as supplementary lighting.
Who Should Buy It: These are a great choice for anyone looking for stringed accent lights that are waterproof, and can be used year-round as a nighttime decoration.
Best Outdoor Solar Path Lights
These hassle-free solar path lights are durable and fashionable, effectively lighting up pathways.
- Clearly light pathways
- Hassle-free warranty
- Weatherproof design
- Plastic stakes are fragile
- Lights dim over time
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Why We Like It: These highly-rated solar path lights are some of the best on the market, with a simple, durable design and convenient features.
Each light illuminates a four-by-four-foot space around it, so you can illuminate up to 100 feet of space with all six that come in a pack. These lights can charge in indirect sunlight during hours of sunlightand should stay lit through the night. Not only are these path lights durable with a weatherproof design, but they also have rechargeable batteries that are covered by warranty. Their hassle-free warranty makes this a risk-free purchase.
Who Should Buy It: If you're looking for hassle-free, risk-free solar path lights that effectively light up pathways and driveways, these are an excellent choice.
Strongest Outdoor Solar Spotlights
This heavy-duty solar spotlight emits a bright beam that will stay lit throughout the night.
- Easy to install
- Highly rated
- Small size
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Why We Like It: This solar landscape lighting emits a bright beam and has convenient features like automatic operation.
This outdoor solar lighting has two brightness light settings and automatically detects when nightfalls, switching from energy storage mode to lighting mode. This weatherproof, heat-resistant spotlight was built to last through inclement weather and the night, with six hours of lighting capabilities on "high" and 12 hours of lighting capabilities on "low." With versatile and easy installation, this light can be either staked or mounted.
Who Should Buy It: This is the best option for someone looking for a quality solar spotlight that stays bright throughout the night.
Why Solar?
The most obvious reason to choose solar lighting is because of how eco-friendly it is, harnessing energy from the sun, not nonrenewable sources. We all need to do our part for the planet, and this is a little way that you can reduce your energy consumption.
It has the added benefit of allowing you to place lights wherever you want in your yard since you no longer have to factor in them being near an outlet. Solar panels are generally card-sized mounts that can be placed almost anywhere you can imagine to add lighting to even the furthest recesses of your yard.
Improvements in solar cells over the years have also resulted in better energy charges that can store and use emitted daylight even in shady areas, or cloudy, winter weather. This means that your lights will still come on during dark winter nights, although they may not last as long as they did in the summer.
Solar lights have come a long way over the years from the short-lived, dim lights they once were. There have been a ton of advancements in the industry, including incorporating LED bulbs into solar lights. LED bulbs are now more commonly seen, which put out more light, and less heat, and therefore require less energy to operate.
Outdoor solar lighting can be used as motion sensors, for nighttime hazard detection, to light a pathway, or to simply add ambiance to your peaceful backyard escape.
If you want to know more about how solar lights work, check out the video below!
Types of Bulbs
Technically, any outdoor lightbulbs can be used with a solar panel to create solar outdoor lighting, however, the bulb that's outshining all the others in the solar light industry right now is LED lights. LED lights are dominating the industry and it's no wonder why since they are long-lasting, energy-efficient, and cost-effective.
What Are LED Lights?
LED stands for light-emitting diode. These lights are directional, meaning they emit light in a specific direction, unlike traditional incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, which emit light in all directions. They also put out very little heat, unlike their predecessors, which makes them much more affordable to run, and a good choice for all-night lighting from a solar charge.
LED lights are becoming increasingly popular in the house as well as for outdoor use due to their cost-effectiveness. People love them for festive decorations since they come in a variety of colors! Gone are the days of coloring a lightbulb for color effects as these bulbs can put out their own mix of hues, but even more impressive is that some are even wifi connectable and can work through your smartphone as part of a smart house (or garden) system.
Solar Light Choices
There is a wide variety of options to choose from when picking an outdoor solar light. All of the most popular options are described below so you can see which one best fits your needs.
Accent Lights
While these lights aren't exactly bright, they sure are pretty. Accent lights are placed in dark areas you want to draw attention to at nighttime.
They may be wound around your trees, hung up on your back porch, or placed throughout your garden. They create ambiance, but not a lot of light.
Accent lights can come in fun colors or shapes, like butterflies, birds, and even flowers. Netting, light strings, and staked designs are all readily available in multiple hues and color-changing choices to place in your yard.
They're very affordable, however, they don't tend to be super long-lasting or weather-resistant. Because of this, you may need to take them inside during the winter.
Solar Path Lights
One of the most popular types of solar lights is solar path lights. These lights are extremely easy to install, all you have to do is stake them in your desired location.
Most commonly they are used to light up walkways, mark driveways, and line garden paths. Path lights can be stand-alone artistic statements in your yard, coming in a variety of elegant and ornate designs
There are tons of options to choose from because they are so popular. You can even find solar path lights that shine fun star-shapes and spiral designs on the paths they light up.
Almost all solar path lights are weatherproof and therefore durable, however more expensive ones tend to come with longer lifespans and warranties. In general, however, they tend to be very affordable.
Solar Task Lights and Spotlights
Task lights and spotlights are generally are the most expensive choice because of their versatility and brightness level. Although these can be used for path lighting, they are more commonly used for focused lighting on the front of homes, water features, and statues.
They also usually have a separate solar panel for increased usability- meaning you can mount the panel separate from the lights so you can take advantage of your best available lighting to charge it.
Because of where they are generally mounted, they tend to be the most durable solar lighting option. They often are weatherproof, have UV protection, and long warranties that ensure they will last a while which makes their expensive price tag easier to swallow.
Outdoor Solar Light Features to Consider
Now that you know what type of solar lights you want, you should consider what features you want them to have. Consider what purpose you need them for, what would make them convenient to use, and what's important to you.
The first thing to consider is whether you want bright lights, accent lights, or lights with bright and dim modes. The last option is the most convenient so that your lighting is versatile. If you want it to function as an accent light, switch it to a low light mode. If you want to use it as a spotlight, switch on the bright mode.
The next thing to consider is the battery life of your light. Some lights can contain more solar energy than others, which means they last longer through the night. If your light has a limited battery, it will probably have a smaller operating time, flipping off 8 hours into the night instead of 12.
A great way to extend the battery life of your outdoor solar light is by getting multiple rechargeable batteries with it. If the company you buy your solar light from insures those rechargeable batteries with a warranty, that's even better.
This brings me to the last thing you should look for when purchasing an outdoor solar light: a warranty. Companies including a warranty with their lights mean that they believe in their product and that they feel confident it will last. Don't settle for an option just because it's cheap because you may need to buy a new one 5 times before a more expensive option stopped working.
How to Choose the Best Solar Lights for Your Yard
If you still need some help in deciding which solar light you want, consider the questions below. Hopefully, they'll illuminate the best option for you!
What Function Do You Need Your Lights For?
Consider what areas you want to light. If it's your back porch or some trees in your yard, go with an accent light. If you want a light to highlight the front of your house, check out some spotlights. If you need lights to illuminate the path through your garden, go with solar garden lights.
These are only a few of the purposes outdoor solar lights can fulfill. They also work as security lights, safety lights, and decorations. The function you want your lights to have is one of the most important things to identify before settling on a type.
Do You Need Year-Round Lighting?
Not all solar-powered lights are meant to be used year-round. Some lights are waterproof, weatherproof, and protected from UV rays, while others will die the first time they are left out in a snowstorm. Read the fine print on your lights before purchasing them.
Where Do You Want to Place Your Solar Lights?
Consider what outdoor space you want to place your lights in. Some lights are more versatile in their placement than others. Check to see if your lights need to be hung up, staked, or mounted to be installed. Also be sure to look over the space you want to put them in to see if it gets indirect or direct sunlight, as some lights require a lot of direct light to charge.
How Much Sunlight Does Your Yard Get?
Although high-quality solar panels can charge in shady areas and on cloudy days, your solar lights will charge the best on days and in spaces where more sunlight is received.
If you have only shady areas, look for products that are rated for low-light charging. Some outdoor solar lights even come with detachable charging panels, but they also tend to come with a steeper price tag.
How We Picked
There are countless outdoor solar light options available on the market so weeding through them was no easy task. However, we found that the options we reviewed in this guide undeniably outshined all of the others available. You can rest assured, these are the best of the best.
We looked for outdoor solar lights that would satisfy numerous different needs, whether people were looking for a spotlight, path light, or accent lights, and whether they were willing to pay a premium price or looking for a light that wouldn't make their wallet light.
We found the best outdoor solar string lights, the most versatile outdoor solar lights, the most powerful outdoor solar lights, and more. However, when it comes to the best of these best, the light that outshined all of the others, there can only be one ultimate winner.
The Spotlight on Outdoor Solar Lights
Our absolute favorite outdoor solar lights were the Signature Garden Solar Lights. These easy-to-use solar lights are some of the most popular, highly-rated solar lights available. Their durable stainless steel design is weatherproof and waterproof, so you know these lights are built to last.
Of course, if you're looking for a spotlight or accent lights, try one of the other options reviewed in this guide. Every single outdoor solar light reviewed is high quality, so you can rest assured you're purchasing an excellent product.