Do you want to install solar lighting in your garden? Whether to mark a pathway, illuminate a parking area or garage, decorate a terrace, solar lighting is practical, efficient, and cost-effective. Outdoor solar lights are also recommended for their design, ease of use, and long lifespan. Choosing solar lighting for your garden is not complicated; all it takes is asking a few questions to purchase a model that suits your needs and installing it correctly to maximize its performance. Eclairage Design offers a guide for buying solar lighting, along with installation tips.

A solar lamp, for what purpose?

Solar lights are practical and efficient thanks to their advanced charging system. They don't require electrical connections and can be installed almost anywhere as needed. Environmentally friendly and durable, solar lights are effective and offer lighting power comparable to mains-powered lamps.

How does a solar lamp work? Solar lights are equipped with a photovoltaic sensor installed on the device or connected with a wire. It captures sunlight or daylight brightness during the day, storing it in its battery to be used when the lamp is turned on. Thanks to an LED, solar lighting benefits from long-lasting use, good luminous power, and a long lifespan. Solar lamps come in numerous models with varying features to suit your needs. The autonomy of a solar lamp can range from 4 to 8 hours depending on its usage. Models that provide high lighting power often come with motion sensors (like outdoor spotlights in a parking area or garage) to operate only when needed and save battery power. Decorative solar lights that emit light for embellishment rather than illumination have less powerful lamps that can stay on for several hours or the entire night.

Different ranges of solar lighting for the home and garden

Solar lighting is available in as many varieties as traditional lamps. Whether for marking, illuminating, or decorating, solar lighting is ideal and adaptable to all situations.

Solar spots for illumination and enhancement

Autonomous and powerful, solar spots store light during the day to release it at nightfall. There are models of spotlights with solar sensors on top of the device, and you should prefer these models for installation in full sunlight during the day. Other models have slightly offset and adjustable photovoltaic sensors, allowing for more flexible usage. In cases where you need to illuminate a tree from below or a specific area, choose a solar floodlight with panels that can be moved if the spot is in the shade during the day.

Tip: The Salamanca solar spotlight is versatile! It can be installed as a wall sconce or planted in the ground with its stake.

Solar bollards for marking

Solar bollards are autonomous, quick to install, and easy to use. Thanks to their photovoltaic panel, they require no wiring and are cost-effective as they operate using solar energy. You can screw them in, plant them in the ground, or bury them to function like ground markers. All bollards come with a solar panel integrated into the lamp. Some models offer powerful and directional lighting, ideal for marking a garden pathway or a route from a parking area to an entry door. These models have motion sensors that preserve the autonomy of the solar bollard. Decorative models or those with less powerful lamps can stay on all night or for longer periods. Solar bollards come in different models, some with a traditional design like solar lanterns for planting, while others have a more contemporary look like the Estrella solar bollard. Solar globes are placed in flowerbeds or plant compositions for decorative lighting.

Joyful solar garlands for decoration

Solar garlands provide warm and cheerful decoration. They are quick to install, and their detachable and adjustable solar panel can be placed in the best position to capture sunlight. Create a festive atmosphere on your terrace, enhance a trellis and its vegetation, wrap a garland around the posts of a pergola or a tree; the uses are endless and limitless. They come in warm or cool colors, multicolored, round or patterned, and solar LED garlands are available in numerous models.

Solar wall sconces

Solar wall sconces can be screwed onto a wall to create an ambiance or provide illumination. With or without motion sensors, wall sconces can enhance your terrace, entrance, or a specific area of the garden. White lighting is suitable for illuminating pathways (stairs, gravel), while wall sconces with warm lighting are perfect for creating a cozy ambiance and decoration. Some are sold in sets, making it a wise and economical choice.

Various solar decorations to adorn the garden and home

Decorative solar lamps are perfect for creating a warm atmosphere. Whether indoors or outdoors, garlands, colored spotlights, themed patterned lamps, or original garden decorations come in a variety of colors and shapes! Choose the installation location, stick or place them, orient the solar panel, and that's it! We love the watering can decoration with its burst of light, the solar Christmas garland with little Santa Claus figures for the holiday season, or the solar butterfly decoration in shades of blue and purple.

Solar outdoor table lamp

To place on outdoor steps, your garden table, or a low living room garden table, solar outdoor table lamps are very practical. Consider using solar LED candles to decorate your table or around the pool. Rechargeable and cost-effective, you can enjoy them all summer and throughout the year!

Hanging solar lights

Hanging solar lights are elegant and stylish. With their integrated solar panel, they can be placed anywhere and provide warm light. We love the Jarre hanging solar light, which can be hung anywhere (trees, pergolas, terrace railings), and the Rio hanging light with a candle that looks more real than ever!

Installing a solar lamp, some tips

Install your solar lamp in a location that receives good sunlight during the day, or choose a model with a detachable or adjustable solar panel (for example, for a spot north of the house). Keep in mind that solar lamps capture ambient light and not necessarily direct sunlight (although they will charge faster that way). Solar lamps have an internal battery, a kind of power cell that stores energy, and the photovoltaic panel is used to recharge this battery. Once charged, at nightfall or when you command it (for models with a remote control), the lamp turns on, and the battery uses its energy to power the LED. Therefore, choose the appropriate power and adjust its usage to ensure you use the lamp as much as you need.

Solar lights work even on cloudy days because sunlight is always present, even if it's filtered by clouds. In winter, solar lights also work but with less intensity due to reduced brightness, lower sun angles, and shorter days.

For the maintenance of your solar lighting, all you need to do is occasionally wipe the solar panel with a damp, non-lint cloth to keep it functioning properly and recharging the lamp correctly. Here's a useful tip for fully recharging your solar lights: If you feel that your solar lamp isn't shining as brightly as before or it stays on for a shorter time, you can set its On/Off button (if it has one) to Off for a few days to allow it to complete a full charging cycle without interruption. It will shine as brightly as before!

You now have all the information you need to effectively choose your LED solar lights!