6 BEST Solar Garden Lights (Our 2023 Tested Picks)

We believe every yard, whether it’s the crown jewel in the front or the entertaining space in the back, deserves to be complemented by the best solar garden lights. 

We only get to experience half of our lovely gardens due to inadequate lighting. We’ve discovered that this is where solar garden lights come in! They add a touch of beauty and atmosphere to our yards while also providing an essential function for us. 

Whether we’re hosting dinner parties and BBQs on the patio or planning a whimsical garden-themed wedding, a well-designed solar light can add plenty of ambiance. They’re even great for those of us who let our dogs out at night and like to keep an eye on them! 

Whatever our specific lighting needs are, solar lights are a better choice than traditional electric lights as they don’t require a connection, are very low-maintenance, and are environmentally friendly.

Our Top Picks

How We Chose The Best Solar Garden Lights

Based on a set of criteria, we’ve narrowed down the huge list of options to the 6 best solar garden lights.

Our rankings place a special emphasis on versatility, and we appreciate unique designs that add elegance, charm, or atmosphere to a garden. We’ve tested and taken into consideration each its battery life, shape, lumens, pack count, and use.

Battery Life

Most solar-powered batteries will last 5-8 hours on a full charge. This is generally enough time to light up a garden area all night long, or at least during the darkest hours.

Some take longer to charge fully in the sun, and this will affect the overall efficiency of the light. However, according to our metrics, a light that has a capacity of 6 hours or more has good battery life, and if it’s able to last more than 8 hours, that’s even better.

Shape

There are a variety of different shapes of solar lights available on the market, and one size doesn’t fit all. Depending on its use and placement, the shape and design of the solar light are important. Generally, for us, small to medium-sized lights are better as they offer the most flexibility of placement.

Also, practically built lights that offer protection for their sensitive solar panels and are easy to install are more attractive than other models. This includes lights that have stake posts, hanging clips or hoops, or flat bottoms for ground placement.

Lumens

The lumen rating of a solar light refers to its level of brightness; the more lumens, the brighter the light will be. While we don’t always want or need incredibly bright lights, there is still a minimum threshold of brightness as the light needs to be functional.

Generally speaking, we think a lumen count of 2.5 or above is acceptable for ambient lighting. For safety purposes, we like a lumen count of 50 or above.

Pack Count

Most small solar lights, like pathway lights and decorative accents, come in multi-packs. This is very useful for those of us who are looking to light a large garden because it reduces the total cost. Most packs come with 2 lights, but some offer 6 or more lights per box.

For unique decorative accents, like string lights or Victorian lamp posts, we found that we normally did not need more than 1 unit. Companies generally sell these types of solar lights in single packs.

Use

We tested each light with different uses in mind that they may be used for, which includes placement, layout, and need for brightness.

Most important, however, is versatility. A solar light that can meet a variety of needs is better if it can be moved and used again in different areas of the garden depending on the weather, event, or evolving taste and style.

Most garden lights are solely to be decorative, but some serve as functional and practical light features. A solar light that can do both is highly desirable and is a worthy investment for any garden, and so we test with this in mind, as well.

Read our related article on the Best Small Greenhouses. No room? No problem! These mini greenhouses allow you to grow a lush garden no matter where you live.

Best Solar Garden Lights Reviewed

1. Best Overall: GardenBliss Solar Lights For Outdoor Pathway

Product Ratings

Brightness	4/5
Installation	5/5
Quality	4/5
Affordability	5/5

Item Weight: 3.3 Pounds | Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 5.2 x 14.2 inches | Voltage: 1.2 Volts | 

GardenBliss solar garden lights are our all-time favorite solar garden lights and with good reason! They certainly didn’t skimp on quality and design when making these lights. We love that they are super budget-friendly, come 10 in a pack, and work well saving us on energy bills.

They stood up well through all of our rigorous tests and stood out at the top of our list. We found these lights to work well for commercial use, home and rooftop garden use, and great to light up pathways. We’re sure there are endless uses for these elegant solar garden lights.

Take a look at how these solar lights performed for us!

Brightness And Quality

Throughout all of our testing, GardenBliss solar garden lights remained bright and of superb quality. We totally love that they have a nice bright, white light. It’s not too soft of a glow, or too golden, it’s just perfect. It lit up each pathway exactly as we had hoped for. 

While testing, we found these LED solar lights to be waterproof and hold up to heavy weather conditions super well. Even on cloudy, overcast days, they charged well and lasted through the night. 

We did find, as another reviewer pointed out, that the lights work much better after replacing the batteries they come with, with a better brand of AA size battery. This amplified the brightness and allowed the charge to last throughout the night until dawn.

Installation

We began our testing by checking out the installation process and putting it to the test. The reviews for this product showed that rebar could be used as the posts on these because they are hollow, so we tested some with and without rebar. Our solar lights with rebar did just as well as the ones without! 

It was a breeze installing these handy lights! We loved that the instructions were clear and easy to follow. We were able to pound the posts lightly to the ground without much effort, and the lights stood up well during installation.

We tested the GardenBliss solar lights in several different areas, so we really appreciated that the height is adjustable being at 8 inches and at 12 inches.

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2. Best For Classic Look And Height: Sterno Home Solar LED Street Light

Product Ratings

Brightness	4/5
Installation	5/5
Quality	5/5
Affordability	4/5

Item Weight: 12.38 Pounds | Product Dimensions: 8.75 x 8.75 x 76 inches | Bulb Type: LED

After testing all of our solar garden lights, we chose Sterno Home solar LED street lights as our runner-up. We love the classic look and feel of this elegant light, along with the sturdy and well-designed quality.

It added just the right touch to our garden and pathways. The Sterno Home Lamp is by far the best choice for us when looking for a light with more height in our garden. 

It’s a little expensive, being that it comes as just a single lamp, but we think it’s well worth the price and will still deliver well in savings on energy. We think Sterno Home solar garden light is a beautiful addition to any outdoor area.

Brightness And Quality

We put our Sterno Home solar lights to the test and found them to have a nice cool bright light. It gave off a good 30-foot radius of light, while not being too bright as to bother neighbors or us at night. Reviewers seem to be 50/50 on the brightness as some would like it to be more and others found it to be perfect. 

Built with a 60-lumen output, they shone brightly for us from dusk until dawn. We didn’t need to remember to turn them off because they are automatic solar lights, which we love! We were able to test these on cloudy overcast days, and they still held their charge without dimming, all the way through until dawn. 

We had concerns with a lamp of this height withstanding hard storms and high winds, but this is quite the sturdy garden light! It withstood winds of up to 100 mph and severe weather conditions without toppling over, swaying, or breaking.

That’s quite impressive considering we found many other lights of this size to struggle in this department. It’s made out of aluminum and could be part of the reason it holds up better than its plastic competitors. 

Installation

We gave our runner-up a high rating when it came to its installation process, as well. We didn’t run into a single hiccup while installing. It was simple and straightforward and came with clear instructions. Plus, it’s easy enough for one person to handle alone.

It comes with wood or cement screws and quite honestly can probably be installed anywhere. We tested both the wood and cement screws and found both to work well and hold up in testing conditions.

One reviewer mentioned the process took about 30 minutes, including mixing cement, for the installation process and we found this to be true. 

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3. Best For Special Events: Brightech Ambience Pro

Product Ratings

Brightness	4/5
Installation	4/5
Quality	5/5
Affordability	4/5

Item Weight: 2.49 Pounds | Size: 27 Feet | Color: 3000k Soft White | Voltage: 120 Volts | Wattage: 1 Watt

What’s not to like about string bulbs? These vintage, cafe-like bulbs are great! If we have an outdoor event, a romantic get-together, or just want to relax in the perfect area, Brightech Ambience Pro are the solar lights for us. We think they have the perfect ambiance and bistro-like feel to them that sets the mood just right for us. 

We were able to hang them up anywhere we chose and create an inviting atmosphere for our after-dark areas. We like them so much we wanted to hang them up everywhere!

While we do love these lights we would like to see more bulbs per strand. We thought ordering the 48 ft option would give us more bulbs, and while it did, it only gave 3 more bulbs. Instead of twice the amount of bulbs, they have made the spacing longer between the lights. 

We would definitely purchase two separate 24 ft lights if looking to have double the length and amount of lights per string. 

Brightness And Quality

We had fun testing these lights because the possibilities are endless! We did finally knuckle down and get to business and found these to hold up in the brightness department with 3000k warm light that lasts well over 20,000 hours.

They held a charge well for us and stayed on even over the advertised 6 hours! We can dance the night away on a deck lit by these string lights.

The quality of these solar string lights was absolutely spot on for us! We like that they thought of using durable plastic for the bulbs instead of glass. Since we can hang them anywhere, we tried them out in many different spaces and against quite a few different surfaces.

With the wind being able to move these a bit, they have the potential to tap against surfaces, which makes durable plastic the best choice. Our bulbs didn’t break and held up well!

Even on cloudy days, our Brightech string lights charged easily enough and worked as well through the night as on sunny days. The lights are automatic and turned on for us at dusk and turned off at dawn.

If we wanted to have the lights turn on a little earlier than dusk, we were able to cover the solar panel with a box or something handy, and the lights came right on for us.

Installation

Brightech Ambience Pro solar lights are extremely easy to install. We only needed one person to install them in each place we tested them. We attached the included solar panel easily, with the provided stake and with the clamp, and both worked well on several surfaces for us. 

The wiring used for these is good quality and sturdy, not flimsy at all. Each bulb section has a big enough loop, making it super easy for us to hang these on nails or just about anywhere we tested. 

Install was just as simple as hanging or draping the lights wherever we wanted, and placing the solar panel nearby!

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4. Best For Whimsical Spaces: TONULAX Solar Lights Outdoor

Product Ratings

Brightness	3/5
Installation	5/5
Quality	4/5
Affordability	4/5

Item Weight: 12 Ounces | Package Dimensions: ‎17.48 x 3.5 x 2.44 inches | Voltage: 1.2 Volts | Wattage: 5 Watts

The Tonulax solar lights are so different and creative that we almost couldn’t tell they were solar-powered lights!

Each light is styled as a faux lily flower and is equipped with color-changing LEDs for an extra dose of fun. We think they look great planted in the ground using stakes or nestled into any garden bed, pathway, or other lackluster areas of the yard. 

While the lights weren’t exactly practical lighting solutions for a dark yard or balcony, they did offer something unique that we really love. We have found many different brands of faux flower lights on the market, but the TONULAX solar light stood out for its high quality and affordable price point.

These definitely are our first choice in faux flower solar lighting.

Brightness And Quality

We like that TONULAX solar lights mimic the beauty of lily flowers with a glow of solar light added. With a colorful and creative shape, the lights offered a touch of whimsy to our garden beds and flower pots. Their solar panels are small and hidden away on the stem of the plant, so they were not visually distracting or obvious to us.

While these lights didn’t light up our entire yard, they did exactly what we wanted them to do and looked spectacular! The battery held up well and kept a charge longer than 6 hours, and charged even in overcast and cloudy conditions. 

We really loved that they changed colors! The lights in the middle of the flowers switch slowly between 7 different colors making this a wonderful addition to our yards with plenty of friendly compliments rolling in. 

Installation

We easily placed our TONULAX solar faux flowers in the ground, pot, and every place we put them to test. We used the provided stakes to install into our testing areas and both stake and flower were strong and durable during installation.

There are no additional parts to be installed and each solar panel is attached to the stem of its flower bunch. The flowers didn’t get in the way of the solar panel charging, which we really liked.

These worked great for a party we had planned! We were able to place them in pots on each table for guests and looked just as beautiful in the daytime as they did at night!

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5. Best For Spotlight: Legacy Mini 50X Twin Solar

Product Ratings

Brightness	4/5
Installation	3/5
Quality	4/5
Affordability	5/5

Item Weight: 2 Pounds | Product Dimensions: 2 x 2 x 8 inches | Assembled Height: 8 Inches | Assembled Length: 2 Inches |  Assembled Width:  2 Inches | Voltage: 6 Bolts | Luminous Flux: 120 Lumens |  Wattage:  3 Watts |  Color Temperature:  3000 Kelvin

With an incredibly bright light and extremely flexible installation, the Mini 50X is a perfect choice for us when wanting to add a touch of impact to our gardens and yards.

We received the lights in packs of 2 with a shared, detached solar panel. All of the elements are encased in aluminum and hard plastic and are very durable. These little lights certainly pack a punch!

We love their unique swivel heads and black coloring. We were able to place them anywhere around our yards and gardens. They worked great for us as home perimeters, such as lighting up the front facade of our houses or the garden fences.

We used them to illuminate indoor-outdoor garden features, patios, large trees, bushes, swimming pools, driveways, and pathways.

Brightness And Quality

We love how well-made the lights are. With an aluminum casing, they were able to stand up against our toughest testing, showing that they will last several years, saving us money on replacement lights. 

The intensity of the lighting is a key selling point for us. We found them to be some of the brightest on the market for their shape and size, and the battery has a large enough capacity to sustain its high output.

We inspected these solar lights and found that they have a special magnifying lens over the lights, which better help the lights to deliver their fantastic output. The lights are very bright, with 120 lumens per light. Since they come as a duo, this means 160-240 combined effect. 

This was plenty of light for us to light up the darkest corners of our perimeters with a dramatic and luxurious look. They have a wide-spread light beam that illuminates a larger area, so it’s not suitable for those looking to brighten a very specific spot in a garden.

Installation

These solar garden lights were easy for us to install on a variety of materials, like wood, grass, concrete, and more. Once we decided where we wanted to place them, installation only took but a few minutes, and only one person was needed.

The detached solar panel is required to be wired to each light so that it can connect to its power source. So this meant our lights had to be within 20 ft of each other and the solar panel. 

We took the advice of a reviewer, and the instructions, and let the solar panel sit in full sun for one day, not attached to the lights. We did this for two consecutive days and then placed our lights in their designated testing spots. They held up well and the battery held a great charge, with maximum brightness. 

Each spotlight has a swivel head that can cover a 45-degree angle area. Not only that, but we were able to stick the spotlight in the ground with an aluminum stake for uplighting and mounted it on the wall with fasteners for downlighting. There are 3 different brightness settings that are easily adjustable.

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6. Best Flickering Light: TomCare Solar LED Flame Torches

Product Ratings

Brightness	4/5
Installation	4/5
Quality	5/5
Affordability	4/5

Item Weight: 4.6 Pounds | Product Dimensions: ‎4.7 x 4.7 x 42.5 inches | Voltage:  5.5 Volts | Wattage: 1.7 Watts | Lumens: 35 Lumens | Product Height: 43 Inches | Number Of LEDs: 99 LED Bulbs

Tomcare has really gone out of its way to bring an impressive solar LED light to the market. These torches are so realistic, your guests won’t be able to tell that they’re LED solar lights! 

We giggled at one answer in the Q&A which shared that their neighbor called the fire department on them for having unattended torches in their yard. Needless to say, the fire department didn’t cite them because they’re just an awesome torch-like LED solar garden light!

While these are a bit pricey, they do come 4 in a pack, making it a somewhat budget-friendly option, and well worth every penny in our opinion!

Brightness And Quality

Unlike some other solar garden lights, these solar torches hold their solar panel right at the top of the torch! There are no solar panels to attach, or sticking out on the side of them, which we really think adds to the realistic effect they have.

During our testing, we found these solar flickering torches to have 99 LEDs with a 35 lumen, giving it a very bright light. The battery capacity is 2200 mAh and kept the lights bright each night without dimming. We also found that cloudy days will not affect the charging of the batteries, making it great for all cities and areas.

Being an automatic light, they came on at dusk for us, and turned off at dawn, making it easy for us. Although, we would like to see them add a feature for us to manually turn the torches on when we like. Having a get-together or event, we would like to have the lights on in the evening before it becomes dark, also. 

Installation

We think the best feature during the installation process on our new Tomcare solar lights was that there are different height options. They came with separate poles and connectors so we were able to use all of the poles for a higher light or just one for a shorter solar light. 

We used the plastic ground stake to easily push the lights into the ground, and into potted plants. We also tested it with a thin rebar inside since the pole was hollow, and it worked great! The torches are a bit top-heavy, so this would work best in areas without high wind.

That was all that was to it! Just as simple as picking the spot for them, and placing them in the ground with the provided ground spike. We did tons of testing on how these would hold up during installation, and afterward, and they passed with flickering lights!

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Comparison Chart

Products	Best Overall	Best For Classic Look & Height	Best For Special Events	Best For Whimsical Spaces	Best For Spotlight	Best For Flickering Light
Overall Rating	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.25/5	4/5	4/5	4.25/5
Brightness	4/5	4/5	4/5	3/5	4/5	4/5
Installation	5/5	5/5	4/5	5/5	3/5	4/5
Quality	4/5	5/5	5/5	4/5	4/5	5/5
Affordability	5/5	4/5	4/5	4/5	5/5	4/5

The Winner

Our winner as the best solar garden light is the GardenBliss Solar Lights For Outdoor Pathway. Overall, these lights held up well and did a great job. We love that they’re affordable but have an expensive-looking design, exceptional quality, height adjustable, perfect illumination, and simple installation.

How To Choose The Best Solar Garden Lights

You’ll want to decide what purpose your solar garden lights will serve. Whether it be for added light, to accent a beautiful bush, add ambiance to a deck, or just to give a fun feel, you’ll need to know which lighting best suits your needs.

When we tested with beautiful landscaping elements like tall palms, fountains, or seating areas we looked at lights with adjustable heads. These small and easily-hidden solar lights made any area look luxurious with a showcase home feel. 

On the other hand, we found that large patios or pergolas look beautiful with string lights. We were able to place them on the ground, hang them on hooks, drape them across wooden beams, and install them overhead for an outdoor-indoor look. 

With very tall trees, hanging lights also look wonderful. They added a touch of wonder to our backyard and were special favorites for our families with kids. 

On the other hand, ground post lights are essential for brightening up a dim path or driveway for us. We also used them to line the perimeter of swimming pools and ponds, serving both practical and decorative use. 

Whatever your need may be, keep in mind that any of these best solar garden lights can be used multi-purposely and add beauty to any area they’re placed in. While looking for your next solar garden lights, remember to check reviews so you get a better idea of whether they will fit your needs.