The 8 Best Outdoor Solar Lights, Tested and Reviewed
Outdoor solar lights can transform your backyard into an inviting oasis, light the path to your front door after dark, and even help deter intruders. No matter which type you choose, these versatile lights take in sunlight during the day to illuminate your yard at night.
We tested 27 outdoor solar lights in our Des Moines lab and at home, evaluating them on setup, features, design, brightness, durability, and value. We even set up a GoPro camera to find out exactly how long the lights stayed on in the middle of the night. For expert advice, we spoke with Cate Singleton, director of design at Tilly, an online landscape design company.
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These are durable spotlights that can be adjusted to light up different areas.
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They’re not very stylish.
If you’re looking to illuminate a specific area—whether it be your house, driveway, landscaping, or pool—the Urpower Outdoor Solar Spotlights are an excellent choice. In our testing, the automatic dusk-to-dawn lights remained on for seven hours and 46 minutes on a full charge. They put out an impressive 200 lumens of light on the highest mode (there’s also a low setting). The lights themselves can be adjusted up to 90 degrees to direct the light where it's most needed, while the solar panel can be angled up to 150 degrees, so you can face it where it will receive the most sunlight during the day.
These spotlights also stood out in our evaluations for their durability. With a weather-resistance rating of IP65, these solar lights sustained no damage after we poured water over them, dropped golf balls on them, and placed them in the freezer for one hour. Even after six months of use, they're working just as well as they were on day one.
Additionally, the Urpower lights come with two different installation options—you can insert them into the ground using the provided stakes or mount them to the wall using the included hardware. The lights are available in three different color options: cool white, warm white, and multicolor. They don’t come with any pattern options, such as blinking or strobe modes, and they aren’t particularly sophisticated in terms of design. However, for basic solar spotlights, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value than the Urpower Outdoor Solar Spotlights.
Lumens: 200 | Operating Time: 8–10 hours | Charging Time: 4–5 hours | Weather-Resistance Rating: IP65
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Wade Review / Dera Burreson
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These string lights add soft ambient lighting to a patio, deck, or porch.
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You can’t connect multiple cables together.
Unlike the string lights synonymous with Christmas decorations and college dorm rooms, Brightech’s outdoor string lights feature large, Edison-style bulbs that give off a warm, moody glow. In our testing, the dusk-to-dawn solar lights stayed on for seven hours and 52 minutes on a full charge. We appreciated that there were two easy installation options for the solar panel: a stake for inserting it into the ground and a clip that allowed us to secure it to a railing. We think the latter is a great option for an apartment balcony or porch.
The bulbs are spaced out 20 inches apart, and the lights are available in two different cable lengths, 27 and 48 feet. (We found that you can’t connect multiple cables together, though.) In our durability testing, the shatterproof plastic bulbs and the solar panel weren’t damaged at all after being hit with golf balls and running water (although the solar panel did get knocked off kilter a bit), nor were they affected by being placed in the freezer.
Keep in mind that these soft white lights are meant to enhance the overall appearance and feel of your outdoor space, not necessarily to increase visibility around your home. If your primary goal is to create an inviting outdoor space, the Brightech Ambience Pro Solar String Lights will do just that.
Lumens: 100 | Operating Time: 5–6 hours | Charging Time: 6 hours | Weather-Resistance Rating: IP44 for panel, IP56 for lights