Solar Landscape Lights

daytime view, jump below for nighttime

We've been hard at work in our backyard, planting a vegetable garden, laying down mulch, clearing out dead shrubs and other overgrown plants. We're working with a tight budget and trying to avoid making big (i.e. expensive) decisions about lighting and a watering system until we've lived in the space for a while. Which is why solar lights are our new best friends. Jump below for a (dark) shot of our lights in action....

We're keen on the amber-colored lights, they glow so warm that it almost seems that we've lit a few candles along our path (so Martha!)...cheap, simple and couldn't be easier to "install" (hint: stick them in the ground). We don't love the black plastic housing, but have managed to sneak them in and around plants so that they're barely noticeable during the day.

We picked ours up at Home Depot last year during a weekend sale event where a 10-pack cost a measly $49. We've seen similar lamps at OSH and Lowe's but haven't been able to find the same killer deal recently. We've had ours for almost a year and haven't had to replace a single battery....go solar!

Single lamps available online at Ace Hardware for $7.99.

Comments (6)

I had something similar in my backyard, and they somehow managed to both glow and illuminate nothing, like an animal's eyes in the dark. I guess if that's the look you want, great, but the low-voltage wired type are more worth it.

posted by Tinyvoices on June 5th 2008 at 12:49pm
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I just picked up a couple of solar landscape spotlights that are LED at Lowes. I have to say that I am really dissapointed. The just don't light anything up! So I think that I have to go the Low-voltage route.

posted by susie b on June 5th 2008 at 1:06pm
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I bought a little set at IKEA that is solar, and resembles those glow-sticks ravers love. I stuck them in my window boxes, and they look really cute.

posted by rhiana on June 5th 2008 at 1:10pm
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Bought a three pack from Target....spotlights. They give just a whisper of a light, just enough to throw a shadow at night. And one of the three burnt out after a week. Huge disappointment.

posted by hdtex on June 5th 2008 at 3:10pm
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Tinyvoices, that is the perfect way to describe them - glow but illuminate nothing. If safety of moving about in the dark is a goal, solar just isn't going to cut it. You'd be better off with solar panels on the roof generating the power to run your low-voltage lighting.

posted by LilyC on June 5th 2008 at 4:41pm
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Nice idea, but the plastic ones from Home Gragantuan are just awful. Try these.

http://www.solargardenstore.com/site/1479562/product/UA-M23001

posted by Hmmmmm on June 6th 2008 at 5:04am
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