What Types of Solar Lights
How to choose the best Solar landscape lights. First you must decide what are you trying to light or highlight to find out What types of solar Lights you will need. Mark out your space and decide how many and what kinds of lights you will need. You can mix up the types of lights to get the desired look.
The big advantage to the solar lights will be that you can place them any where that they will get sun most of the day. Another advantage is that you will not need to be close to a power source. Batteries can be replaced and the LED lights will last the lifetime of the fixture.
Solar Lights for Path Lighting
Path lighting can be done with a series of lights designed for lighting the ground. If you are
lighting an area that does not have complete sunlight, you can use a remote Solar Panel that can run a series of lights.
Paths can be highlighted with decorative lights that mostly shine down to the ground. They can be like a hanging lantern or have a reflector to shine the light down. They must have the opening for the light on the bottom so they can shine on the ground.
Special lights are made to light up steps by being attached to the back of each step. These can be wired in a series to use one photo cell.
Solar Lights for Accent
Do you want to show off something in your outdoor room at night? A single item or a whole area can be lighted with a Spot light.
Accent lighting will help you. You can take a spotlight to light up a single item and highlight it. Think of your favorite item on a path or in your courtyard. You can highlight it with a spot light and make it a focal point after dark.
This will work with a fountain, address numbers, flag pole.
Solar Lights for Highlighting
A Flood light will give an area a lot of light. You would use this if you wanted to light a big
area without highlighting a single item. This is the method you would use for security of your area. You can light a big area with just one light. Using several lights can highlight a whole side of your house.
Putting lights level with the ground can highlight the area above and in the daytime no one will know they are there. These lights shine straight up and will shine on objects above them. Play with the lighting before planting these lights in the ground.
Specialty Solar Lights
Solar Turtle Light
Most specialty solar lights will be used for decoration. Some are animals, birds, plants or almost any object that can have a light attached or put inside for illumination.
Some Specialty lights will have a separate solar panel with a wire to connect to the light.
Conclusion
When looking to highlight or just decorate your outside space, finding What Types of Solar Lights you will need first can make a big difference in your landscape.
Thanks for reading, if you have any questions or comments use the form below.
Thanks for sharing different types of solar lights here John. They are very cool to have in my house. I love the turtle one. Where can I get it?
P.S. John, do you share your post on G+? It is very important to do so, because it boosts your ranking. Do it at most once a day for every content you create!
Edy,
You can get these at any big box store. I have had mine for several years.
John
I have been thinking of getting some solar lights for a landscaped hill in our backyard. I have been hesitant because the area doesn’t get that much light. I didn’t realize that you could get a remote solar panel. I think that would solve my problem. I have never seen one of these with a set of lights. Is this something you would need to purchase separately?
Tanya,
Many retailers sell the remote solar panels for your outdoor lights. I will send you a link to one of my post on remote solar panels.
John
I love garden lighting and one day when I can buy my own home I want beautiful little garden lights all through my plants and trees, sort of creating a fairy garden look! Thank you for sharing this post I found it very interesting and it reminded me of my dreams… one day!
Lynne,
You can use these lights anywhere. You just need the sun to recharge the batteries. Good luck in getting your home in the near future.
John
Hey John,
This is another great product to look at.
For the specialty product which requires separate installation of solar panels, do you have an estimate of how much it would cost to install one and the specifications required to supply power to the whole area covered by those specialty lights?
I like those lighting that are shaped into animals,birds and plant. A good product that will compliment the landscape design.
Hey John! I Want Solar Lights! My husband and I will be building a small home on some land by a pond and I would love to put some solar lights in around the place. I love that turtle. I would love to see what other animals I can find. I wonder if there are any dragons, lol. I never thought about using a remote solar panel. Will have to look into that as well.
I was browsing through the rest of your website and saw the lights for the umbrella. Love that!
I will be coming back to this website again and again. 🙂
~ Melinda
Melinda,
I will keep adding different items to make all outdoor rooms better and make people want to use their outdoor space.
John
John,
I have been meaning to purchase solar lights for our backyard patio. We have a light fixture on the wall, but it’s just not bright enough to fill the whole patio. If I were to put them on our wooden fence surrounding the patio, would flood lights, or accent lights be better?
I’m not really looking for security, but I do want it to fill the patio up with enough light where I could play cards out on my table for example. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Stu
Stu,
Look at the Umbrella Table lights for your card playing. Many selections there.
John
Great resource for easy DIY outdoor home improvements. We are looking to put our home on the market next year and this site has given us lots of great ideas on cost effective ways to enhance the property and improve “curb appeal”.
Any recommendations for which projects might provide the best return on investment in terms of increasing home resale value?
Mike,
The best return of investment would be staging your outdoor space with furniture that you could move to your new home.
The second would be to make sure the entrance to the home is well lit after dark. This will give the sense of security for the prospective home owners. If they are really interested in buying your home they will come by and look at the curb appeal after dark, having correct entrance lighting will give the home a sense of security after dark. You do not need to light it like a runway, just enough light to make the entrance inviting.
Having not seen your home it is not as easy giving you information. Pictures of your entrance and outdoor space would make this easier.
John
My entertaining space in my backyard is underneath a large tree, so I’ve had problems in the past finding good solar lights to light the area. It’s good to know that I can get a separate solar panel to place in a sunnier part of my yard!
Are there solar lights that also work as motion-sensor lights? If so, maybe that would be a great idea for my back door.
Samantha,
Most solar panels have a dusk to dawn switch. You can install a motion switch up the line to operate your lights. I found a switch that the lights operates on dim until motion is detected, this switch was installed over my garage door. Any time someone walks up my drive the lights brighten up.
John
Hi Chris
I have always loved solar lights because I think they add a bit more character to the outside of homes and gardens.
I have a few solar lights along my paths, but the speciality lights look fantastic. Your turtle cas given me a great idea for my back yard 🙂
Thank You. Neil
Neil,
The good thing about the new Solar Lights is that the Solar Panels are much more efficient and the Rechargeable Batteries last longer. The LED lights will never need replacing and as long as you do not run them over they will last forever, just replace the battery ever few years.
John
Hi John.
These days it is not easy to choose between all the wonderful solutions available in LED world. Your website
is very inspiring. I will like to start gardening , but here there is still plenty of snow.
I have 5 very simple and inexpensive solar cell lamps that have stood out since last summer . Now they’ve got some sun in recent days,tonight they gave a beautiful light that lights up the snow around the flowerpots . Solar LED ‘s are beautiful!
Kenneth
Kenneth,
The Solar LED lights will shine the brightest with the least amount of sun daily. The batteries will be the first to give up as the LED bulbs will outlast the fixtures.
John
Hi John,
Thanks for sharing your wide selection of outdoor lighting ideas especially solar lights. I think they make a really good alternative to regular lights used outdoors since they are easier to install, wireless and “electricity-free”. And since I, specifically love lights, I hope you can also share where we can be able to purchase them or some DIY ideas that I can use with the things that I already got at home.
Be looking forward to it.
Rocky
Rocky,
The solar lights are a lot bigger this year. Most of the low voltage lights have been discontinued in sets.The solar lights are easier to set up, just make sure that you test them first as the non working rate out of the box is around 10%. Most of the post do have links to the products on the post. If you have a specific thing you are looking for let me know.
John