7 Best Solar Outdoor Lights of 2026, Lab-Tested and Reviewed
We spotlight top-rated solar-powered outdoor lights for your walkway and garden from brands like Harbor Breeze and Westinghouse
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Good outdoor lighting dramatically extends the hours when you can enjoy your yard.
It can make things safer by highlighting paths and walkways, and you can use it as a garden light to showcase standout features, such as a koi pond or slate patio. And, of course, the beauty of outdoor solar lights, in particular, is that there’s no need for wiring or an outdoor outlet.
- Best Solar Outdoor Lights: Landscape Deck String
- How Do Solar Outdoor Lights Work?
- How CR Tests Solar Outdoor Lights
- Solar landscape lights: These lights—also called spotlights, path lights, or walkway lights—are typically installed in loose soil using an included plastic stake and are meant to illuminate walkways, garden beds, or a patio’s perimeter.
- Solar deck lights: These lights come in two common varieties. The first is designed to be installed on stair risers, casting light to illuminate the step below so that people won’t trip. The second variety, often called post-cap lights, is typically mounted on top of the posts in deck handrails and railings.
- Solar string lights: These lights are the solar-powered version of plug-in string lights. Wrapped on a pergola or arbor, they let you see clearly enough to top off a drink or avoid tripping on steps.
CR members can read about the top three models of each type below, or check out our comprehensive ratings of outdoor solar lights.
Learn how we test our solar outdoor lights, too.
Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
Best Solar Landscape Lights
There are two main types of solar landscape lights:
- Spotlight varieties are designed to cast all their light in a single area, much like a spotlight in a theater.
- Path or walkway varieties typically disperse light evenly in a circular pattern around the fixture, rather than targeting light into a single spot.
Photo: Adobe Stock Photo: Adobe Stock
Best Solar Deck Lights
Solar deck lights are designed to illuminate a wider area around the post, much like a pathway light, to help you get around safely after dusk.
Photo: Harbor Breeze/Lowe's Photo: Harbor Breeze/Lowe's
Best Solar String Lights
Solar string lights can add a festive flair to your backyard setup. The length of the string, number of bulbs, and spacing between bulbs vary, as does the color profile of the light they generate. Most mount via plastic clips that snap onto exposed nails, screws, or hooks on an outdoor structure, or even onto thin branches on a tree.
How Do Solar Outdoor Lights Work?
All solar outdoor lights draw power from the sun during daylight hours and store that power in a battery, or batteries, housed inside the lights. When the sun sets, the lights draw on the batteries to produce light. Some models come on automatically at dusk, while others can or must be turned on manually.
Unlike conventional bulbs (including smart lightbulbs), the perceived brightness of a solar light is hard to capture with lumens. That’s because the apparent brightness of the light is affected by how the light is projected and reflected, as well as its color temperature. So refer to our ratings for insights on light color and settings, as well as the bulb type and number of LEDs per fixture, all of which can give you a sense of the color, brightness, and intensity.
There’s no hard and fast rule as to how many hours these products will provide light, but our experts observed that almost any option will last longer than the time they spend charging in the sun—so after a long summer day, you could theoretically have ample light from dusk to dawn without the need to recharge.
Battery size, array size, and total light output all affect how long that light will last. For instance, with all other factors equal, a dimmer light will tend to last longer than a brighter one. “Light duration is hard to explain because it involves a balance,” says Bernie Deitrick, CR’s senior tester, who evaluated outdoor solar lighting.
Direct sunlight isn’t always a must for solar lights to work, but it certainly helps. In our tests, solar lights were able to generate light even after charging on overcast days, but a lack of sun affected battery life. If you’re concerned about a lack of sunlight, look for outdoor lights that can be charged via USB, so you can top off the battery even on the dreariest of days. Also consider models with an on/off switch—that way, you can turn off the lights when you don’t need them and conserve battery charge.
What’s the best place to store solar lights in the winter, when there’s less sun to power them? Generally, battery-powered devices perform best when stored at room temperature. This would mean keeping them indoors during cold weather. That’s inconvenient—but at least you’ll avoid hitting them with a shovel, plow, or snow blower when they’re safely packed away.
How CR Tests Solar Outdoor Lights
At our Yonkers, N.Y., facility, we mount samples of each light on a mobile cart and park it outdoors for roughly five hours every day. We test on both sunny and cloudy days.
Next, our testers bring each light indoors. We note when the lights go out and score them on how long they stay on. The total times can differ from day to day, depending on sun, cloud, and rain conditions, but the best models always outperform the worst, whether powered during a day with a lot of sun or very little. For scoring, we use the two brightest days from our testing.
In addition, we size up ease of use by evaluating how easy each light is to mount and adjust. We also note which models have certain key features—like a switch to turn lights on and off, or the ability to charge them with a separate power cord if the sun isn’t out.
Finally, we leave out samples of each light to expose them to rain and heat, noting whether any fixtures weathered, filled with water, or stopped working.
