Patio Covers Guide

Guide to Solar Patio Lighting

Solar patio lighting isn’t just a “green” lifestyle choice. It’s a practical and economical lighting strategy, especially compared to alternatives like standard voltage and low voltage lighting. Solar lights get their charge from sunlight during the day to provide light throughout the night.

They don’t require that additional cabling to be run from the lights to a remote power source, making them idea for homeowners with no wiring experience. Furthermore, most solar patio lights switch themselves on and off automatically, yet can still be set for manual operation, if desired. The key to making solar patio lighting work is understanding the types of lights available and their proper placement.

To get the full amount of light possible from solar lights, they need to be placed where they’ll receive the most light during the daytime, which mean that, ideally, they should be set away from shaded areas for at least most of the day (the sun’s position will change, so some shade will likely be inevitable).

You may need to evaluate whether or not the location of your patio is conducive to using solar lights. Don’t assume that just because you live in a predominately overcast area that you won’t be able to get sufficient sunlight. The best practice is to purchase the lights you intended, making sure to get them from a vendor that offers a return period, then try them out during that window.

The most types of solar lighting for patios are flood lights, spotlights and patio umbrella lights. Flood lights are usually placed at the top of a wall or a tall post to cover as much of the patio area from a single light fixture as possible.

Spotlights are usually purchase as a set to highlight individual objects of interest, such as plants, statues or fountains. Patio umbrella lights can be single fixtures attached to the center of the umbrella’s post, or they can be an array of string lights strewn inside the umbrella. The proximity of the solar panels gives you the freedom to experiment with different placements, making them much more flexible than conventional patio lighting.

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