![14 solar-powered garden lights to power your alfresco get-togethers (1) 14 solar-powered garden lights to power your alfresco get-togethers (1)](https://i0.wp.com/hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/solar-lights-665863790922c.png?crop=0.505xw:1.00xh;0.248xw,0&resize=640:*)
Bringing a charming glow to alfresco summer evenings, solar-powered garden lights are a popular, affordable and low maintenance way of illuminating your outdoor space.
There are plenty of styles on offer, from traditional stake lights that mark pathways and border edges to hanging lanterns to wrap around pergolas, wall sconces, and floor lamps. And that's without mentioning all the fun, decorative designs (such as the tree-like Alliums below), which are perfect for scattering in flowerbeds and staking into plant pots.
Solar lights aren’t especially powerful, however, so don’t rely on them alone for illumination (for that, you'll likely need some mains-powered lights), but they're great for creating ambience and adding a final twinkly flourish.
The best solar lights should be durable, easy to use and responsive. So, to give your garden a glow up, the GHI experts have been busy testing them out, with the help of our at-home panel. These are our top picks, but keep reading for everything you need to know.
Best solar lights
SolarCentre Edinburgh USB Solar Festoon Lights
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Bets motion sensor solar lights
Dunelm Vogue Callen Solar PIR Outdoor
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Best stake solar lights
Cox & Cox Four Solar Tiered Stake Lights
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Best portable solar light
Nordlux Saulio To-Go Solar Battery Light Black
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Best for range of lighting effects
Lumify® USB Chargeable Outdoor Solar Powered Vintage Bulb Lights
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Best budget solar lights
Sarah Raven Solar Raindrop Wire Lights
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Shapelights® Indoor Outdoor USB Chargeable Solar Powered Colour Changing Mood Light
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How do solar-powered garden lights work?
Solar lights use the sun's energy to charge their battery during the day before coming on in all their glowy glory in the evening. It means they won't add to your energy bills but may not shine as brightly on gloomier days.
To make the most of your lights, ensure they – or the attached solar panel – are positioned in a well-lit area that gets lots of sun and away from walls that cast shadows over them.
Do solar lights work in winter?
The short answer is yes, but not as well. The more daylight the panels get to charge, the longer the bulbs will glow. So, expect your lights to work for six to 10 hours in the evenings in the summer, gradually reducing as the nights start drawing in.
However, as you'll be less likely to sit outside come autumn, this shouldn't be so much of a problem. Once it starts getting colder, we recommend bringing your solar garden lights inside or storing them in the shed, to ensure they stay in good condition for the next year.
How we test solar lights
Our GHI experts start by charging each light for a full day and then seeing when they turn on. They time how long the light stays bright overnight, checking via CCTV to see when they switch off.
Then, they measure their brightness with a lux meter and test their durability by knocking the lights over three times before checking for any damage. For string lights, our testers drop them from a metre high instead.
Throughout testing, our experts assess the design, instructions and ease of use. And while this is happening, the solar lights are also put to the test in real-life conditions by a panel.
They feed back to us about the product’s performance, set-up, and durability. All this data is then collated by our team to give each light a score.
Alongside these tested solar lights, we’ve also included some editors' picks to give you plenty of choice, for every budget. You’ll find these lights at the end of the list, below our GHI Approved buys.
These are our best solar lights for adding a little sparkle to your patio, tabletop, plant pots and balcony this summer.
Score: 93/100
There’s something particularly elegant and atmospheric about string lights and we loved the vintage look of these bulb festoon lights. They’re warm and bright, providing good visibility as well as making a great garden party decoration.
They were easy to install and impressed testers with their run time, lighting up for just under seven hours. The bulbs switched on quickly when the sun started to go down too. There’s only one lighting mode, so you can't adjust the brightness, but these robust lights were hard to fault, making them a very worthy winner.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | String lights |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Set of 20 bulbs |
Extra features | 12-month warranty |
Score: 88/100
This path light shone in our tests, illuminating a large area even on its lowest setting and glowing for up to five hours. Depending on the setting you opt for, it also responds quickly when movement is detected nearby.
Some found set-up tricky, as you need to screw the base into a solid foundation. It’s also not the sturdiest design, so make sure you place it somewhere where it won’t get knocked or battered by bad weather if you can.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Standalone |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | One light; H50 x W20 x D6 cm |
Extra features | Photocell and PIR sensor, water resistant, corrosive resistant |
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Score: 87/100
Providing over six hours of bright light a night on test, these stakes are an ideal choice for lining pathways or spotlighting features in your garden.
Our panellists loved the ambience they created, although our testers had a few issues when assembling them, as the plastic stakes suffered some minor cracks when driven into the ground.
Once in place, however, they responded to changes in light quickly, and while they aren’t the most premium up close, our panellists liked their overall “sleek look”.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Stake |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Four stakes (30cm tall) |
Extra features | Also runs on battery power and batteries are included |
Score: 86/100
Testers loved this light for its compact and portable design. Its head tilts up to 360 degrees, which means you can direct it wherever you need the light, and its comfortable carry handle makes it easy to move outdoors and back in again.
Screwing it together was a little fiddly and there's no nighttime sensor. Instead, tap it two or three times to turn it on and adjust the brightness. If anything, however, that makes it more versatile; whether you’re gardening, reading, camping, or hosting, this light is the perfect companion.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Standalone |
---|---|
Control type | Manual |
Sizes/Amounts available | One light |
Extra features | Three light settings, portable, USB-chargeable, 5-year guarantee |
Best for range of lighting effects
Lumify® USB Chargeable Outdoor Solar Powered Vintage Bulb Lights
Now 26% Off
Score: 82/100
With eight lighting effects and a warm, white colour, these vintage string lights received high praise from our panel. They were user-friendly, quick to charge, responsive to dusk, and long-lasting, staying bright for eight hours.
If you need to run them longer, there is a power-saving mode, but on test this reduced the brightness by half. The wires are fiddly to untangle and make sure you tighten the bulb covers if you're hanging the lights in a windy spot, but these look pretty both on and off!
Key specifications
Type of solar light | String lights |
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Control type | Manual |
Sizes/Amounts available | 20 bulbs |
Extra features | Eight lighting effects, water resistant, also USB-chargeable |
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Score: 74/100
These won’t light up your garden (and weren’t the brightest on test), but the delicate string lights are perfect for adorning bushes, fences or pergolas to give your garden a soft, twinkly look.
Testers found the wiring time-consuming to unravel, but once done, it blends discreetly into the background, leaving you with shimmering drops of warm light. The lights remained on overnight and responded quickly to the setting sun too.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | String lights |
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Control type | Manual |
Sizes/Amounts available | 50, 100, or 200 LEDS |
Extra features | Two function twinkle effects, water resistant |
Editors' picks
This set of four stake lights is perfect for spotlighting pathways, grass edges and focal points in your garden. They turn on automatically after charging throughout the day and are made to last overnight, adding a soft, warm glow to your outside space, whether you're entertaining late into the night, or just want to add a little light when you're out with the dog before bed!
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Stake lights |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Four stakes |
Extra features | Waterproof, one-year warranty, 30-day money-back guarantee |
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This motion sensor light has a 110-degree detection angle and eight-metre range, making it a good pick for adding security to your garden at night. The light stands 50cm tall and has three modes, including one where it shines a bright light for 25 seconds in response to movement nearby.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Standalone |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | One light |
Extra features | Three-year guarantee |
The unique pebble design of this light is both practical and decorative. You can choose to illuminate your outdoor space with a bright white light or warm white glow, or even opt for alternative mood lighting with eight different colours.
We also love that the Shapelights are waterproof and can even float on a pond for extra theatricality!
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Standalone |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | One light: pebble, mini pebble, sphere, mini sphere, cube, mini cube and cylinder available |
Extra features | USB-chargeable |
Instead of the typical stake light design, these ones from FLOwood feature a glowing globe. We think they'll add a touch of elegance to your outdoor space – they’re perfect for lining paths or steps and last for six to eight hours when the battery is fully charged. Plus, there’s an on and off switch if you don't want them to turn on automatically when the sun goes down.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Stake lights |
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Control type | Automatic and manual available |
Sizes/Amounts available | Eight lights |
Extra features | Waterproof |
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We love the idea of decorating a balcony with these mason jars, but they’d be equally as eye-catching adorning posts, fences, branches or your alfresco dinner party table. Each jar is filled with warm-coloured fairy lights, and they’re powered by a mini solar panel that automatically turns them on when the sun sets.
There are only three jars in a set so you may need to buy two to make a real statement in a larger garden, and, let's be honest, you can never have enough fairy lights.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Hanging lights |
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Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Three mason jars |
Extra features | Waterproof |
This is one of our favourite sets for brightening up your flower beds. They are expensive, but each piece contains 90 twinkly bulbs, which sway gently in the breeze, making for a truly dreamy display at dusk.
They come with a set of six stake lights too, so there’s plenty of light to dot around and make a real statement.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Stake lights |
---|---|
Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Set of six lights |
Extra features | The battery can be replaced when the supplied one gets weaker |
Bringing the feel of a Moroccan souk to your garden, these lanterns (which come in a pack of five) are designed to hang in trees or from a pergola to illuminate a patio or seating area below.
The mishmash of colours and shapes will help create a cosy, eclectic feel. Finish the scheme with lots of colourful throws and cushions, leafy plants and an outdoor rug (or two – layering is key with looks like this).
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Hanging lights |
---|---|
Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Set of five lights |
Extra features | Waterproof |
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These solar stake lights are much larger than average, standing at 77cm tall compared to the 25-30cm height of other stakes in this list. Each one gives off a subtle, flickering glow similar to a flame, creating a relaxing ambience.
Simply set up and charge throughout the day before they automatically turn on as the sun goes down.
Key specifications
Type of solar light | Stake lights |
---|---|
Control type | Automatic |
Sizes/Amounts available | Set of two lights (77cm tall) |
Extra features | Waterproof, heatproof and dust-resistant |
Megan Geall
Homes Writer
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s homes writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market. When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her cooking, running and exploring London’s foodie hotspots – or trying to make friends with every dog she passes. Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall and on X @megan_geall
Tested byBlossom Boothroyd
Senior Homes Tester
Blossom is our Senior Homes Tester. Passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for our readers, she has tested everything from blenders to pizza ovens. Blossom enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols for hundreds of items. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster. In her free time, Blossom openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.