The Best Outdoor Solar Lights: a house log
Some people are surprised to hear that we illuminate our whole pool area using nothing but solar LED landscape lights. As in: the sun provides free evening ambiance with zero effort on our part. Nothing has to be plugged in. Our electric bill feels zero impact from softly illuminating this whole area of our house. So today I hoped to share the 3 solar products we use in case you want to give your own outdoor space a literal glow-up.
Technically we have a porch light and in-pool lights too, all of which use traditional electricity, but we nearly never turn them on. Honestly, they are a little blinding and we like a soft glow that does not block out our view of the stars. Instead, day-to-day (or night-to-night?) we simply rely on our solar-powered LED lighting for that oh so charming come-hither glow.
I used to think solar-powered landscape lighting was a lackluster substitute for traditional, wired landscape lights (which, btw, we found quite straightforward to install ourselves at our last house). But now we are large fans of solar lights, and I will tell you why.
Why We Enjoy Using Solar Lights
One common reason for using solar lights is to avoid the wiring necessary for plug-in or electric-powered lights. And honestly, that is one of the reasons we initially used them here – nearly as a placeholder until we had time to install a more permanent lighting plan.
But since adding them, we have discovered there are TONS of pros to relying on solar lighting in your yard:
- Straightforward to install: No wiring necessary! Simply find a sunny spot for your solar panel.
- Placement Flexibility: You are not constrained by wires or proximity to a plug, put ’em anywhere!
- Affordable: They are not quite pricey to buy and they’ll never add to your electric bill.
- Set & Forget: They are dust-to-dawn, so there are no switches or timers to worry about.
- Eco-Friendly: Renewable resources FTW!
I even filmed this short little time-lapse video to show you how our pool area automatically transitions from day-to-night, without us having to do a darn thing!
Note: You can also view this video on YouTube.
Now, of course, the main drawback to solar lights is that they rely on sunshine, so they do not glow as long on cloudy days – but generally they have surprised us by shining longer than we’d think they should on especially gloomy days (they might come on at dusk and shine until 11 or 12 instead of 3 or 4 like they do on a normal sunny day. Quite occasionally if we have had a string of gloomy days they might only glow a compact bit or not at all, but in those cases we consistently have that porch light and our in-pool light if we truly need them.
Typically whenever we have friends over after dark, we hang around our firepit area or upper deck anyways, both of which are illuminated by plug-in LED outdoor string lights. So that pool ambiance you see in the video is mostly enjoyed by mom & dad in the hot tub, where it easily provides sufficient light to make sure nobody misses a step getting in, but not like a search-light level blast of light like a UFO is above us trying to beam us up.
The 3 Outdoor Solar LED Lights We Use
I will talk about each of these in a bit more detail, but for a swift rundown, here they are:
- Solar Pathway Lights (4 pack is right now $50 – so $12.50 each)
- Solar-Powered String Fairy Lights (2 pack is right now $15 – so $7.50 each)
- Solar Patio Umbrella Lights (Single pack is right now $24)
They all include the necessary solar panels, so you do not need to buy any extra equipment. Everything is ready to go right out of the box. They are also all WARM WHITE, which helps them put off a pleasing glow, not a harsh fluorescent-colored light or anything too weirdly blue.
Solar-Powered Pathway Lights
Sherry has mentioned these solar pathway lights a ton on Instagram and I feel like they are already building up quite a voracious following – and for good reason! So many of you have sent photos of them in your yards, and from seeing them in snow or other tropical places or simply lining a front walkway in the suburbs or the city, they consistently look strong. They are attractive during the daytime and SO straightforward to install (simply turn the switch in the cap on, stake them into the ground, and you are done). The solar panel is built right onto the top of the light, and those starburst reflections shine down on the ground around them when they glow.
At dusk they automatically come on, casting a surprising amount of light that creates this cool pattern on the ground. Nearly like rays of the sunshine beaming out onto your patio, path, driveway, or wherever. We have in fact got them on all sides of our house – likely about 16 in total! We get asked if they work in the snow and colder climates and have certainly heard from people who have them and enjoy them there – our only advice is do not put them somewhere that gets zero sun – because, duh, they are solar. So like under an awning that is consistently shaded will not work nearly as well as out in a garden, along a path leading to the door, etc.
I have not created an Excel spreadsheet to see how long they last every night to provide you with the mean, median, and mode (does not that sound like something I’d do?) but the essential part is that most of them are still on by the time we go to bed – so they are functional for the time we need them to be functional. And I say “most” simply because one or two of ours behind our pool wall do not get as much sun thanks to the plants overhead, so they might fade a little faster.
Thankfully they collectively cast more than sufficient soft light for us to get around out there and soak up that ambient glow until around 11 or 12, we are typically inside & sound asleep by then. There are certainly nights when Sherry’s randomly up at 3 or 4am for a glass of water or whatever and says she still sees them glowing softly out there after a sunny day.
Note: when you get them, turn them on under the cap. They have two brightness settings there as well, so you can experiment to see which one you like best. We have ours on the brightest setting and it is still quite soft and not harsh or in-your-face at all.
Solar-Powered Fairy Lights
Last summer we chose to give these solar fairy lights a try and I am so glad we did. We did not truly have a plan for them at first, but swiftly chose to run them under the eave of our house and along our fence.
They too are straightforward to install. It simply tacked in some small nails along the fence and wound the copper wire tightly around each nail. And instead of staking the solar panel into the ground, it literally simply sits on top of the fence collecting all that striking free electricity from Mr. Sun. Cannot even see it from the ground (I am standing up on a ladder for this shot).
One strand is 33 feet long, which worked out perfectly for us. We have two, and each strand starts on either side of the gate (which is how we were able to make sure the gate still swings open freely). So the one on the right side of the gate opening runs along the fence, while the one on the left of the gate opening runs the other direction across the house.
The solar panel on the other end of that strand that runs along the house simply sits unceremoniously on the corner of our roof. You cannot truly see this one from the ground much either from most angles, thanks to some greenery that obscures that corner and the inherent over-your-head factor (I am up on a ladder to get this shot too).
You can see what I mean about the greenery in that corner that obscures the view of the solar pad on the roof here (it is in that far left corner that you cannot see):
The LEDs do not give off much heat, so a lot of people also use them more “organically” in bushes or other landscaping. They’d also be strong for outdoor holiday decorations, like bunched up in a jack-o-lantern or as part of a Christmas display. Oh and if you are hosting a disco dance party they also have various lighting modes – like flashing, twinkling, or fading in and out. We simply use the solid “on” setting.
From certain angles it is hard to see the ones under the house (thanks to the gutter) so it is sort of like an under-cabinet glow that washes down the side of the house – and we frequently catch them in the pool reflection, like in the photo above. In fact, the reflection of these lights are one of my go-to things about them! Speaking of which…
Solar Patio Umbrella Lights
After the success of the fairy lights, I sought out some other places to add them. That is when I came across these umbrella fairy lights specifically designed to go on the spokes of a patio umbrella.
Instead of a strand of lights that run in a straight line, these fairy lights are laid out nearly like an octopus – with 8 shorter lengths of wire spidering off from a center ring. This makes it ideal for any umbrella with an 8-rib design, between 7ft – 10ft in length. We in fact have this 11ft umbrella, so the lights do not technically go to the ends, but you can see when you scroll up or watch the video it still looks truly charming.
The kit comes with a bunch of small zip ties to hold the fairy lights in place on your umbrella. We also chose to wrap ours around the spokes too, because I found it required fewer zip ties (we simply have one on each end) and holds the wires in place when we put the umbrella down and back up again.
The listing shows the solar panel mounted on the outer edge of the umbrella, but that made the umbrella lean a little to one side. So we simply clip ours near the top of our umbrella instead – to that loose fabric around the top vent. The panel is literally like a giant chip clip, so you’ve got a lot of options for where you want to put it.
It does not give off a giant amount of light (I would not be able to read a book by it, for example), but that is not our goal here. We generally like sufficient light not to fall into the pool or hot tub and be able to see if we drop something but there is not “evening reading time” under the fairy lights. They simply layer more glow into the backyard and reflect beautifully in the water of the pool.
Overall, we have found this assortment of solar-powered outdoor lights to be the ideal mix for us. We take evening hot tub dips a few nights a week (hot tubs are the best at night!), and we enjoy that these lights offer a zero-effort, electricity-free way to make the backyard look cozy and inviting.
Oh, and one more thing, because it is also solar. But it is in a totally distinct area of our house:
BONUS #1: Solar Motion-Activated Flood Light
I am switching gears a bit, I could not tie up this post without mentionig the 4th type of solar light that we enjoy: these motion-activated flood lights (a 2 pack is right now $30). They are not truly going to add any ambiance, but boy are they surprisingly bright for being solar-powered!
We put them in a couple of dark corners of our yard, including near our driveway to give us some extra light after dark if we are getting out of the car and we have been truly impressed by them. we have ours mounted on trees and, since every part of the device pivots, you can adjust it to make sure it is detecting motion where you want AND shining in the right direction. Again, they are surprisingly bright!
Simply be sure to order these warm white ones we have been linking. They sell a cool white version and, well, you know my feelings about light bulbs that are too cool looking.
BONUS #2: Wireless Security Camera
Although it is not a light, another wireless outdoor device we lately brought in is a Ring video doorbell. It cost us only $99 and could be installed in simply 5 steps using only a screwdriver. It has a rechargeable battery built-in so it can be placed anywhere you want, even if you do not have an existing doorbell!
So we hope this post encourages you to give some solar-powered lights a try somewhere in your yard or patio. And if you are looking for some other outdoor updates you can do yourself, here are a few ideas:
- How We Created A Cozy Firepit Area
- Our Low Maintenance Multi-Functional Deck Space
- Breathing Life Back Into Our Quirky Outdoor Shower
- Creating A Hands-on Vine Trellis
- A Beginner’s Guide To Pressure Washing
- A Plain Outdoor Plant Shelf To Disguise Ugly Utility Boxes
- How To Build An Outdoor Hanging Daybed
Note: We get a lot of source questions, like “where did you get those lounge chairs by the pool?” or “what is the link to that porch lamp?” so we created a spot with all that info (and our paint colors!). This page has any and all sources for things that are outside or inside our home.
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