Garden lights are a lovely way to brighten up an otherwise drab outside space and are ideal for outdoor entertainment. Solar ones will save on energy – but some brands are more reliable and longer-lasting than others.
We’ve been testing garden solar lights continuously in all weathers for three years, and we’ve found that particularly harsh winters can easily spell the end for sub-standard solar lights.
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The Best Buy garden solar lights we recommend below can survive even the worst winters, and a fair bit of rough treatment besides.
Their solar panels are also effective enough to keep the fairy lights twinkling even in the depths of winter.
Best garden solar lights from our test
Compare our results and prices at a glance in our table below or read on for our full reviews.
Best Buy: Solar String Lights 200 White PowerBee Endurance
Only available at PowerBee smaller 100 string set (which comes with a smaller solar panel) is also available in white or multicoloured for £24.99 or £29.99
Pros
- Survived all durability tests
- Works in low-light conditions
- Shines all winter
Cons
- Large solar panel might put some off
Our verdict Our top pick, shine all through winter
Need to know 200 lights, 20m long (2m to the first light, then 20m), claimed battery life of 8-12 hours in the summer and 3-10 hours in the winter, eight light settings, white light.
This set of garden lights comes with a large solar panel, which is a little bigger than an A4 sheet of paper (twice as big as most others we tested).
PowerBee says this larger solar panel means the lights should stay on for longer, and that they’ll work over winter, which not many solar lights claim. We’ve found this to be spot on. These lights have been shining brightly around a tree in our test garden for three years now; they’re often still shining brightly in the early hours of the morning (6am), even in the depths of winter.
You get 2m of cable before the first light, and then 200 LED lights over the next 20m of cable.
This is the best set of LED solar fairy lights we’ve tested, and based on how they’ve fared in our tough tests, with more than three years outside, we think they’re durable enough to make it through even extreme winter conditions.
Best Buy: Lumify USB Solar Vintage Bulb Lights – set of 20
Pros
- Survived all durability tests
- Shine all winter
Cons
- Expensive
- Wide distance between each light
Our verdict Best bulb-shaped lights we’ve tested
Need to know 20 lights, 14.4m long (1.9m to the first light, then 14.4m, with bulbs spaced at 80cm), USB chargeable as well as charging from the sun, claimed battery life of 12 nights from a full USB charge, eight light settings, warm white light.
The traditional style plastic bulbs may look delicate and sophisticated, but that hides an inner steel. These lights survived five consecutive days of sub-zero temperatures, a night in the deep freeze at -16°C, being bashed against a fence, firm tugs to the wiring, a five-minute heavy deluge in a shower, and being fully submerged in a bucket of water for an hour.
Subsequently, they’ve also survived three years attached to a garden fence, in all weathers. After all of this, the lights still work and there are no visible signs of damage.
They also work in low light conditions over winter. They don’t stay on as long as the PowerBee lights, but on most nights, even in winter when it gets dark early, they last for at least eight hours.
Each bulb has a tiny hole drilled into the bottom, which allows any water ingress to drip out – an excellent design feature. The bulbs on other lights we tested tended to fill up with water over time.
The ability to charge these lights through a USB port is also a welcome feature, as it helps them keep going over winter. One thing to watch out for is the relatively long distance between each of the bulbs (80cm), which might make them unsuitable for some of your outside lighting projects.
Some online reviews suggest these bulbs aren’t as bright as other solar lights, but we didn’t find that to be the case. They’re just as bright as the other solar lights we tested, but it’s important to remember that solar lights are decorative, rather than for proper illumination, as you can see in the image of the lights on our playhouse above.
Best Buy: Lumify USB Solar Fairy Lights – Warm White 300 LEDs
Pros
- Highly durable
- Work in low light
- USB chargeable
Cons
- Expensive
Our verdict The best warm white fairy lights we’ve tested
Need to know 300 lights, 30m long (2m to the first light, then 28m with bulbs evenly spaced), USB-chargeable as well as solar, eight light settings, warm white light.
We added these fairy lights to our test in 2022 and they survived one of the coldest winters in recent years in our test garden.
They’ve also survived every other durability test we’ve thrown at them, including sharp tugs of the wires, a deep freeze at -16°C, repeated soakings and lots of bashing against a fence post.
They are expensive, but you do get 30m of cable; the solar charger is also good enough to keep the lights on throughout winter. These lights were often still shining at midnight, even in January.
You also have the option to charge the lights with a USB charger, if you want to top them up during the darker months.
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LED String lights Crystal Ball
Pros
- Survived most durability tests
Cons
- There aren’t many individual lights per pack
- Quality is inconsistent
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Our verdict Hit and miss
Need to know 30 lights, 7m long (1m to the first light, then 7m), claimed battery life of 8-14 hours, eight light settings, warm white light.
These lights are a bit hit and miss. We’ve tested some packs that are hard as nails, and the first time we tested them, they got a Best Buy for their durability.
But since then, we’ve tested more and they’ve proved less durable, with wiring that can easily be snapped or pulled from the solar charger.
If you’re careful with them, then these are a decent and cheap set of solar lights. But the quality isn’t consistent.
You should also know that despite some of the images online suggesting otherwise, there aren’t a lot of lights in each pack, as you can see in the image below.
That said, the light that they emit is nice. It’s enough to tastefully illuminate the children’s playhouse in the picture above, but not much more than that. So you might need to buy a few sets to light up your whole patio.
The solar charger is small and not that powerful, so they’ll stay on for only a few hours at most in the depths of winter.
Elan Solar Fairy Lights – Warm White 200 LEDs
Only available at: The Solar Centre, £29.99
Pros
- Survived all durability tests
Cons
- Visible signs of corrosion after tests
Our verdict Won’t last
Need to know 200 lights, 20m long (2m to the first light, then 20m of lights), USB chargeable as well as solar, claimed battery life of up to 10 hours, two light settings, warm white light.
These are a good set of lights that survived all of our tests. However, they don’t quite get our recommendation because despite surviving, there were some visible signs of corrosion at the end of our durability tests.
The plastic coating that surrounds the wire is green, as opposed to clear which you get with other sets of solar garden lights, so the corrosion is harder to spot, but it is there. Because of this, despite these lights still working and emitting a nice warm glow, we wouldn’t expect them to last as long as our top picks, which showed no visible signs of wear and tear after testing.
In fact, not long after we left these in our test garden in 2020, they stopped working completely.
Argos Home 200 Warm White LED Solar String Lights
Pros
- Relatively low cost
Cons
- Failed durability tests
- Don’t stay on over winter
Our verdict Not impressed
Need to know 200 lights, 10m long, battery life is unstated, two light settings, warm white light
We had doubts about these lights as soon as we got them out of the box. You could see a small amount of exposed wire as it entered the solar charger.
Despite this flaw, these lights did survive the durability tests until we gave the wire a sharp tug, at which point it disconnected from the charger, breaking the lights.
Up till this point, they had survived a winter in our test garden in 2020, but we don’t think they’d last much longer, unless you were extremely careful with them.
Argos Home Solar 20 Festoon Warm White Lights
Only available at Habitat Argos £20
Pros
- Relatively low cost
Cons
- Can fill with water
- Wiring is delicate
Our verdict Cheap looking bulbs
Need to know 20 bulbs, 2.2m to the first bulb, then 3.8m of bulbs at 20cm spacing, warm white light
These bulbs filled with water during very heavy showers and they don’t have a hole for the water to drain away.
The wiring is delicate and after a few sharp tugs, it broke at the point that it enters the solar charger.
The lights didn’t stay on as long as our Best Buys during the first dark winter we had them up for.
Lights4fun 200 Warm White LED Solar Fairy Lights Clear Cable
Only available at Lights4Fun £19.99
Pros
- Lights shine brightly
Cons
- Failed durability tests
Our verdict Not watertight
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Need to know 200 lights, 19.9m long (3m to the first light, then 19.9 metres), claimed battery life of up to eight hours during the summer, It’s recommended you store the lights away over the winter, 8 light settings, warm white light.
It only took six weeks for these lights to start to show visible signs of corrosion on the wire underneath the plastic coating, but they did still work.
They survived our shower test, deep freeze test, wire tugging test and being roughly bashed against a fence. But they failed the tougher water resistance test where they were submerged in a bucket of water for an hour. Water is able to seep into the charging unit, pooling around the battery and internal wiring.
While these lights might shine brightly in your garden for a while, we suspect that many sets won’t last too long, and you’ll see visible signs of corrosion on the bulbs in only a few weeks of cold wet weather.
In fact, they broke not long after we left them in our test garden in 2020.
The Range 300 LED Solar String Lights
Only available at The Range£17.99
Pros
- Survive most durability tests
Cons
- Weak wiring
- Signs of corrosion
- Not great in low light conditions
Our verdict Weak wiring
Need to know 31.9m length, 300 lights, warm white
These lights were added to our test in 2022 and survived most durability tests, including the deep freeze and saturation.
But the wiring is weak, and flung out of the charger after a sharp tug. We also noticed signs of corrosion on some of the bulbs after a harsh winter outside.
The solar charger also isn’t particularly effective, the lights didn’t shine for many hours in the depths of winter.
Lights4fun 20 Warm White Carnival Solar Festoon Lights
Pros
- Nothing major
Cons
- Failed durability tests
- Don’t last long over winter
Our verdict Didn’t last the winter
Need to know 1.75m of cable to the first bulb, then 3m of cable, 20 bulbs, warm white light
We added these lights to our test in 2022, but they didn’t survive the winter.
After a few months, the button to turn them on and off had seized, and there were visible signs of corrosion where the wire enters the solar charger.
Because of this poor durability, we can’t recommend them.
Elan Solar Dandelion Lights
Pros
- Attractive soft light
Cons
- Not durable
- Not good in low light
Our verdict Pretty but fragile
Need to know 2m of cable to the first bulb, followed by 9m of bulb, 30 bulbs, warm white light
These lights look attractive, but when we added them to our test in 2022, they didn’t survive the winter.
Half the string of lights stopped working after a particularly cold and windy spell, so we can’t recommend them.
Lights4fun Bubble Solar Fairy Lights
Only available at Lights 4 fun £19.99
Pros
- Relatively low cost
Cons
- Not good in low light
- Not durable
Our verdict Not winter-proof
Need to know 3m to the first bulb followed by 3.9m of bulbs, 40 bulbs, warm white light
These lights were added to our test in 2022, but they didn’t survive the winter.
Not only did they not stay twinkling for long once the sun had gone down, but by midwinter they had developed an intermittent flash, or pulse, caused by some dodgy wiring.
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How we test solar garden lights
We know that solar garden lights have an issue with longevity. They just don’t last long enough, and too many end up in landfill too quickly.
That’s why we’ve designed a really tough set of tests to simulate the type of conditions these types of lights might endure over a few really tough British winters.
- Water ingress A common cause of failure. We subject each set to a 10-minute deluge in a shower and submerge them in a bucket of water for an hour. Some bulbs and chargers fill with water and stop working.
- Freezing temperatures After each of the water ingress tests, the lights are put dripping wet into a freezer overnight, at -16°C.
- Weathering Our Best Buy lights have been working perfectly well in our test garden for the past three years. In September 2022 we added a new batch of lights and the best of those are still performing, too.
- Rough treatment We tie one end of each set of lights to a fence post and bash it against a fence 20 times. We also give the lights a tough tug along the length of the cable and where the cable enters the charging station. This is the biggest cause of failure in solar fairy lights, so make sure you don’t tug them while putting them up.
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor
