solar power landscape lighting

[spederman]

I've had the lights that have the solar panel built into the top of each light and they were shit and only lasted 6 months.

What about the kind they have at Home Depot that has the solar panel as a stand alone unit powering a bunch of lights. Anybody know if those work or are all solar panel lights junk?

[Sgt Beavis]

I like the concept of the lighting system your talking about but I think the weak point is the battery. It seems to me that most of these lighting systems have crap for batteries and they usually only last a couple of years. I also question whether or not that panel puts out enough juice to keep the battery fit.

Of course if it is an overcast day, forgetaboutit...

I personally like the low voltage lighting systems. Most of them can be plugged into an outdoor electrical socket. The setup beyond that is fairly simple because the power line doesn't have that much juice in it and the method for connecting the lights is very simple and straightforward. In almost all cases, low voltage lights will produce a lot more light than those solar jobs. The only real downside to them is that they are dependent on the location of your power socket.

[jims93lx]

Most of the stuff you buy at HD is junk, like the poster above stated. To get a really quality set of solar lights, if such there are, you are probably gonna have to contact a true landscape lighting person, not just a landscaper, but someone that specializes in lights. From what I have seen, those guys are pricy, but worth the investment for what you get...

[miketyler]

I've had the lights that have the solar panel built into the top of each light and they were shit and only lasted 6 months.

We bought two sets from Walmart over a year ago and haven't had any problems. They came with cheap rechargeable ni-Cad AA bats. Actually I didn't think they would make 6months but are still hanging in there.

You have good batteries and lights get sun at least half of the day?

[johnny1999]

Put some in yesterday. We will see how long they last.

[ScottJ]

wired is the only real sustainable option, if max impact is the goal.

I'm going to ditch my solars and do wired at some point, maybe do some lighting in and on my trees too.

[GE]

Kinda depends on what you're going for. From what I've seen, most of those solar jobs suck nuts. I tried taking pics of my setup, but my camera sucks at night pics. I used the low-voltage stuff from HD, installed over the weekend. Not too hard, mount the transformer, place the lights, route the wire, plug the lights into the wire, bury the wire. It's just a lil time intensive. I'd say about an hour to get them working, and another hour if you're planning on burying the cable.