Solar Lights

Lights shopping

Merry Solar Christmas

Hello, Steve here again. I covered different types of solar Christmas lights in a previous article, but seeing as how Christmas is almost here, I wanted to give you some info on the best rated Christmas lights that I was able to find, where to get them and what I thought of the ones I got. You do need to hurry though, because what I discovered may shock you. It certainly did me!

If you want to do a quick search, click here, but I recommend you read below first.

What shocked me? Well, I went solar Christmas lights shopping at some of the local “home improvement” stores, after doing some online research, and was amazed at what I found. The selection was TERRIBLE! I tried three different places near my home, and searched the net for local stores that would have solar powered Christmas lights. Here is what I found:

First, I tried Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH). Osh is run by Sears, who I have come to trust for a lot of products. They had exactly one brand of solar Christmas lights, in a total of 2 varieties! The worst part was that after all the research I had done (and it was a LOT), I had never even heard of the brand that they carried! I called Sears and they had the same brand, but in three varieties. They had solar LED icicle lights, some short string lights and net lights. All of them were in white – no colors.

Okay, so let’s check out the Home Depot. They have the biggest selection of solar lights I have seen at a local retailer. Guess how many solar Christmas lights they had at the store? They had a whopping total of 0. Yep, they did not have a single solar Christmas light. My online search for a local vendor proved no more fruitful. Frustrating, no?

I would figure that with the state of our ecology right now and Christmas coming up, solar powered Christmas lights would be everywhere. Well, it seems that some of us are just a step ahead of our local merchants. I found myself going back to my old, trusted friend – the internet.

I actually spent a couple of hours on the net searching for different online vendors. Well all was said and done, I wound up back at Amazon. Now since some people have a problem with Amazon’s interface and finding exactly what they are looking for, I have bookmarked the results page for you.

Click here to browse the search results.

Here are the lights I wound up ordering and a quick review:

Set of 200 Wide Angle LED Multi Solar Powered Christmas Lights

Good points – These had no rating yet, but for $39.99 for two strings, totaling 200 lights, it was a no brainer. The strings at Osh were 9 feet long and cost 24.99. These strings are 33’ long with a light spacing of 4”. They light up really well. They stay cool, have solar rechargeable batteries and come with a separate charger that you can use if you can’t get a full recharge from the sun.

Draw backs – The panels are kinda big and hard to hide. Since I used these lights to frame my roof, I decided to not use the garden stake and mounted the panels on my roof instead. Also, the bulbs are not replaceable, so if one burns out, I have to live with a blank spot. This is a drawback seen in every solar lights set-up I have seen though. Luckily the LEDs last for a long time.

Aurora Glow – Glass Solar String Lights

Good points – These lights are absolutely beautiful. They also come with an extra long lead, so you can mount the panel up to 15’ away. They are very unique looking, hand crafted, and did I say beautiful? They are.

Draw-backs – They are a little pricey. I was reluctant to get them at first, but I really wanted something unique. When I looked at them though, I immediately understood why they cost what they do.

Bethlehem Lighting Indoor/Outdoor 50-Lamp 5mm Wide-Angle LED Lighting Set

Good points – Very nice lights. Very bright. Low cost.

Draw-backs – THEY ARE NOT SOLAR! I made a mistake when ordering these. They are listed with Amazon as “solar Christmas lights”, but they are not solar. If I had read the description more carefully, I would not have made that mistake.

I looked at a couple of other lights there, but I decided I will buy more next year. My biggest advice to you now is to read the descriptions carefully and order soon, so that you get them in time for Christmas.

I hope I have been of some help in your quest for Solar Christmas Lights. Happy lighting and Merry Christmas!

Thanks for reading,
Steve

PS – You have got to check out this video! Christmas Lights Video

Solar Lights Reviews

So you have decided that you want to get some solar path lights for your walkway or solar accent lights for your garden. Maybe you want solar security lights to ward off potential trespassers. You have read my guide on how to choose outdoor solar lights, so you have a really good idea of what type(s) of lights you need. So where do you buy them?

I know this reads like a sales pitch, but stay with me here. I have no problem with you going to your local home improvement store and picking out your lights. Occasionally you will find a helpful sales person who is informed and can help you to purchase a high quality solar light that will work perfectly for your needs. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.

If you choose to do that, please be prepared! Before you head out to your local ACE or Home Depot, do some research online. I have looked high and low for solar lights reviews and I can tell you that it can be very discouraging trying to find some actual, real life, impartial reviews for different brands of lights. Most sites will show you THEIR brand and how wonderful it is.

Luckily, there are some sites that give real reviews (good and bad) from their customers. One of those sites is actually the review site for Home Depot. I do have a few concerns about picking anything up at a Home Depot though. Honestly, I have found that a lot of their products are of a lesser quality than similar products at other retailers. I have read a lot of solar lights reviews from that site that range from “This gave me much needed light for my shed and was nice and bright” to “It worked fine until the first time it rained and then never worked again.” Definitely do not want the latter.

My second concern is that people who purchase products at a brick and mortar retailer do not share their opinions of those products online as much as people who buy from online stores. When someone buys from an online store, they are usually sent an email asking how they liked it. Online stores actually ask for customer reviews.

Of course, one of the benefits of buying from a brick and mortar store is that you can actually see the product and attempt to judge its quality. It’s also easier to see exactly what it looks like and its size. You will not usually, however get as big a selection. You will also usually pay a little less online – sometimes a LOT less.

So, let me give you an example:

Here is a Sun-Mate Solar Security Light from Home depot. 9 customer reviews give it 4.2 out of 5 stars. Not bad, huh? It sells for $79.99. Oh, and you won’t see it in the store because it is an “online only” product. So much for seeing it.

Here is the exact same product at Amazon.com. Its price there is $49.23. That’s $30.76 cheaper. By the way, it has 10 reviews for an average score of just barely over 1 out of 5 stars. See what I mean? Read the reviews. It is important.

Yes, I make no bones about the fact that I promote shopping at Amazon. I promote it, because I buy from there. It is also a great place to get info and REAL customer reviews. If you would rather shop brick and mortar, by all means, go ahead. But go here first and do your homework – Best Rated Solar Lights.Then, take your research to your local home improvement store.  You will have a set of brand new, shiny solar yard lights that will actually work the way you want them to.

Well, hopefully I have been some help. May your cells always charge and your bulbs stay bright!

Cheers!

*** Update! I have added a Solar Lights Store. <–Click! ***

How to Choose Outdoor Solar Lights

When choosing outdoor solar lights, it is all about application, application, application. This is the biggest consideration when deciding on a particular light.  Let’s consider what goes into a solar light.

First, you have a photovoltaic cell that captures the light. The bigger the cell, the more light it can capture and convert to energy. Size is not everything though.  The biggest factor when dealing with solar cells is the efficiency.  That is where the biggest advancements in technology are happening.

Next, you need something that stores the energy. Most solar lights use nickel cadmium batteries for energy storage. Next you have the light itself. This is where LED technology comes into play. LED’s are a “cool” light. That means that they can convert the energy that is given to them into almost pure light, rather than the combination of heat and light that older filaments produce. This makes the LED’s much more efficient. They also have a much longer life than older light types.

Keeping all this in mind, you really need to make sure that the solar yard lights you are buying are going to suit your application. Let’s assume that we are not going to go with yesterday’s technology, and we are going to make sure that the lights have high quality photovoltaic cells and LED’s. Let’s look at the three basic types of outdoor solar lights, and how application needs to dictate the lights type.

First is solar accent lights. As the name implies, this type of solar light is meant to add accents to your home landscaping. Since accent lights are fairly dim compared to other types of solar lights, they have a much longer run time. It is not uncommon to get a couple of nights worth of light out of a single day’s charge. Look for accent lights that have multi-crystalline solar cells. They can collect energy even on overcast days. I should also note that the amber LED’s seem to have a longer run time than white. There are also many styles of accent lights that can compliment the surrounding scenery.   They also work great as solar patio lights.

Next are solar path lights. These solar lights are brighter than accent lights. They are meant for lighting pathways, driveways, walkways, etc. Solar path lights come in a variety of options for mounting in a way that will work for your project. Just keep in mind that they are really meant to focus the light downward, toward the ground. As they run brighter than accent lights, you can expect shorter run times.

The brightest of the outdoor solar lights are spotlights. Solar spotlights are used to cast a beam of light toward a particular feature of your home’s landscaping or architecture. As the light is projected away from the fixture toward another object, most people prefer to have them hidden out of sight. This can make them difficult to energize, as “hidden” and “in direct sunlight” is usually a contradiction in terms. For this reason, many solar spot lights have a separate “solar panel” that connects to the light with a wire that can be mounted in an area that gets more light. This allows you a great deal of versatility in locating your spotlights in just the perfect spot for the greatest effect.

Hopefully this will help you to buy the right outdoor solar lights for the right application without some of the costly mistakes that often come about in “do-it-yourself” type projects.  And don’t forget to read our article  Solar Lights Reviews.  Did you know that there is such a thing as indoor solar lighting?  Learn more about these, as well as about solar skylights in our indoor solar lights post.