In article ,
"Banister Stairwell" wrote:

My wife wants landscape lights for the front yard. She's convinced that
solar powered lights will work fine, but I'm not sure. They do seem to be
less expensive than their hard-wired transformer & timer operated
counterparts. One of my concerns is that there are many areas of our yard
that do not receive direct sunlight. Another concern is that they don't
seem very bright.

Has anyone had any experience with these solar-powered lights? I'd be most
grateful for any comments or opinions on the pros and cons of solar vs.
standard landscape lights.

Thanks in advance.



My neighbor has solar landscape lights. Pretty nifty and less fuss than
hard-wired to install. But your answer depends on how much illumination
your wife wants. If she wants her lights to pump out a lot of
illumination (like to the point where people driving by would notice),
the hard-wired ones are by far the better choice because the solar
jobbies are really only good for a little bit of atmosphere light, or
*just* enough for someone to keep from tripping over something along a
narrow pathway in the very dark. Which is why most people just use them
for sidewalk marker lights or next to deck stairs. They're also
notorious for not throwing out the same amount of light from day to day.
How bright they burn depends on how much sunlight the collector cells
receive during the day. Winter months are pretty dismal because the
sun's lower in the sky, and there tends to me more overcast days
especially in the northern states.

Having a wife myself, once they make up their minds about having
something, opinions of others rarely convince them to drop the idea. So
here's a suggestion: Why not buy just one solar light (instead of maybe
wasting a bunch of money on a whole bunch), stick it wherever your wife
plans to put them, and let her see for herself over a few weeks whether
they live up to her expectations.

AJS