How to Position Solar Motion Lights for Best Coverage
A solar motion light seems like the simplest fixture to install. Stick it on a wall, let the sun charge…
Category Installation & How-To
Solar Brick Lights: How to Embed Flush Lighting Into Patios and Walkways
Flush-mounted solar brick lights sit level with the surrounding paver surface, creating a clean line of illumination that appears to…
Solar Lights for Basement Window Wells: Bringing Daylight Below Grade
Basement window wells are one of the most neglected corners of a house. They are rectangular pits dug into the…
Solar Lights for Compost Bins and Rain Barrels: Lighting the Forgotten Utility Corner
Every yard has a corner nobody shows off. Mine is behind the shed, where the compost bin, the rain barrel,…
Solar Lights for Sheds and Off-Grid Outbuildings: What Works When There Is No Power
My workshop shed sits 120 feet from the nearest electrical outlet. Trenching power to it would have cost more than…
How to Hang Solar String Lights on a Pergola or Gazebo So They Actually Stay Up
I have rehung my pergola string lights four times. The first three attempts failed for predictable reasons: the zip ties…
Solar Lights for Outdoor Showers: Beach House and Off-Grid Bathing in the Dark
Outdoor showers are one of the best features of a beach house, cabin, or off-grid property. There is nothing quite…
Solar Lights for Cold Plunges and Outdoor Saunas: What Survives Wet, Hot, and Frozen
The cold plunge and outdoor sauna combination has moved from biohacker novelty to mainstream backyard fixture. People are dropping metal…
Solar Lights for Vertical Gardens and Living Walls: A Technical Placement Guide
Vertical gardens and living walls are one of the hardest things in a landscape to light well. The plants grow…
Solar Lights for Retaining Walls: The Flush-Mount Hardscape Trend
The most interesting shift in outdoor lighting over the last few years is not brighter LEDs or better batteries. It…
Solar Lights for Hot Tubs: What Is Safe Near Water and Steam
Lighting a hot tub area is one of those projects that sounds simple until you start thinking about water, electricity,…
Solar Lighting for Community Gardens and Allotments: What Works When Nobody Owns the Space
A community garden is the hardest environment there is for solar lighting. It is not that the technology will not…
Solar Lights for Outdoor Kitchens: A Technical Guide to Task and Ambient Lighting
An outdoor kitchen is one of the most demanding environments for lighting. You are dealing with heat from the grill,…
Solar Lights for Cemetery Plots: Respectful, Durable, and Allowed
A solar light at a grave is one of the kindest small gestures there is. It says someone was here,…
Solar Walkway Lighting Design: Beyond Sticking Them in a Row
The default solar walkway lighting installation is a straight line of identical path lights, evenly spaced, jammed into the grass…
