solar lights: are they any good

[Val]

I am looking to buy outside solar lights for landscaping that don't require any wiring and would like to know if they are really up to the job.

Thanks in advance, Val

[Roger]

They put out a very dim light, not adequate for landscape lighting, and barely passable for path lights, if you have good night vision! They work best where there are few trees and lots of sun, year-round. Otherwise, they cannot charge properly, and put out weak light. Walk around your neighborhood and find some, and you will get a proper impression. I find the low voltage - 110v to 12v stepdown transformer - lights are much better, throw decent light, and are easy to hook up.

"> I am looking to buy outside solar lights for landscaping that don't

[JNJ]

Although I do not use them, my folks do -- they seem to work fine. They're not designed to light up the whole yard or anything, just walkways and such, so they're quite suitable to task. I'll probably buy some myself next year when we finish the landscape rennovations in the spring.

James

[John Keiser]

As the other posters observed, low light output.

Also, battery life has been limited in the past Maybe this has improved but they don't last for ever and not very long in my experience.

Better off with hardwired lights.

IMHO..

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[Jeff Cochran]

Universally they suck. Much lower output (lower wattage) and most won't stay on more than a few hours on full sun.

It's not very hard to wire them, use the wired versions and you'll be happier.

If you still are thinking of solar, buy *one* and test it for a few weeks.

Jeff

[Noah Body]

Here's the trick to using Solar Lights... only buy the CLEAR ones, not the yellow or green, and don't get the ones with the translucent type of plastic around the LED light, buy the ones where you can look in and actually see the bulb. I have found different styles here and only one style really does the job.