How Long Do Solar Lights Take to Charge? (Honest Answer)
How long do solar lights take to charge? Six to eight hours of direct sun for a full charge on…
Category Solar Basics
Do Solar Lights Need Direct Sunlight? How Much Shade Is Too Much
Do solar lights need direct sunlight? No – they’ll charge in shade, and then dim by 9 p.m. like they’re…
Are Solar Lights Safe? Fire, Heat and Weather Myths, Answered
Are solar lights safe? Yes – and I say that as someone who made a living fastening a few hundred…
What mAh Means on Solar Lights (and the Runtime to Expect)
Solar light battery capacity is the most misunderstood number on the box. Manufacturers print mAh in a font bigger than…
Warm White vs Cool White Outdoor Lights: How to Choose
Warm white vs cool white outdoor lights is the decision people agonize over, and it shouldn’t take longer than a…
How Do Solar Lights Work? A Plain-English Walkthrough
The question I get from neighbors more than any other is ‘how do solar lights work,’ and the answer is…
Do Solar Lights Work in Winter? Why They Dim and 8 Fixes
The first hard frost of the season does strange things to solar lights. The path lights that ran from dusk…
Solar Panel Degradation Over Time: What to Expect
Solar panels do not last forever, and they do not fail all at once. They fade. Every year, a small…
Choosing Solar Light Control Modes: Dusk-to-Dawn vs Motion vs Timer
The first solar light I ever bought had one mode. It turned on at dusk and ran until the battery…
Amorphous vs Crystalline Silicon Solar Panels: Which Is Better for Garden Lights
Open up a solar garden light and the panel on top is almost certainly one of three things: a square…
How Solar Light Charge Controllers Work: PWM vs MPPT vs Direct
A solar light is a tiny power plant. A panel collects energy, a battery stores it, and an LED spends…
Solar Light LED Driver Circuits: Constant Current vs Constant Voltage
An LED is not a light bulb. A light bulb is a resistor that glows when current passes through it,…
Understanding Solar Panel Efficiency Ratings in Small Format Panels
Solar panel efficiency is one of the most quoted and least understood numbers in the solar lighting world. You see…
How Solar Light Dusk-to-Dawn Sensors Work: LDR vs Photodiode vs Phototransistor
A solar light that turns on at dusk and off at dawn seems like simple magic, but inside that automatic…
Solar Light Battery Protection Circuits: Overcharge, Overdischarge, and Temperature
The most dangerous component in a solar light is the battery, and the component most likely to be missing in…
