Outdoor solar lighting makes it easier than ever to add a glow to your home’s exterior, but experts say placement, quality and purpose are key to getting the most from these systems.
Written by Clayton Trutor. Courtesy of Classy Caps
The sun can provide you with light both day and night at home, thanks to the abundant outdoor home solar lighting options now available on the market. Many Americans are switching to solar options to illuminate their gardens, walkways, and porches. Outdoor solar lighting can serve as an accent, a source of security lighting, or merely a guide through a pathway.
“Solar lighting systems typically consist of three main components: a photovoltaic (PV) cell, a low-power light source, and an energy storage device. The PV cell converts sunlight into electrical energy, which is stored in a battery for later use. When illumination is needed, the stored energy powers the light source, commonly a light emitting diode (LED), to produce light,” said Richard Ketcham, a PhD in electrical engineering from KU Leuven, a major research university in Belgium. Ketcham works for Zensor, a Belgian firm that creates intelligent monitoring systems for industry and renewable energy companies.
The size of the solar home lighting market has expanded considerably in recent years. According to Grand View Research, the market for outdoor solar lighting in the United States grew from under $2 billion in 2010 to nearly $10 billion in 2024. Numerous solar options for outdoor home lighting are now available on the market. Solar lighting offers a convenient and ecologically preferable alternative for home illumination.
“A lot of people, myself included before I got started in this business, don’t realize that the solar panel is actually charging a rechargeable battery inside,” said Malcolm Chadwick, director of operations for Classy Caps, an Ontario, Canada-based leader in the outdoor solar lighting industry.
Classy Caps offers a range of outdoor solar lighting products, including modern and vintage post caps, garden lights, and security lights. Additionally, they offer solar lights for decks and interior walls. Their products feature a built-in solar panel on top of the unit. For ambiance, customers can toggle between warm natural light and cool white lighting modes. Classy Caps products are available at most home improvement and hardware stores as well as through many major online retailers.
Beyond its ecological benefits, solar lighting requires minimal effort to put in place. Once mounted, most properly installed solar lighting units work automatically.
“You take it out of the box, and you can plug and play. You don’t have to hire an electrician. They are fairly easy to set up. It’s energy free and there’s no cords. When the battery dies, all you need is another rechargeable battery rather than a whole new product,” Chadwick said.
The light bulbs in Classy Caps products are LEDs, which last for up to three years, according to Chadwick.
“If the fixture has some kind of a stake on it, you’re just staking it in the ground. And you’re positioning it and your job is done. The time factor is extremely small. The ease of installation is very high,” said Drew Lucas, general manager and senior designer for Outdoor Lighting Expressions.
The company has been in business for more than 20 years. Outdoor Lighting Expressions focuses on the residential market, providing architectural and landscape lighting solutions. Their base of operations is in the Roanoke Valley.
Lucas cautions customers in the market for a permanent home lighting solution against relying entirely on solar illumination, preferring instead low-voltage lighting options as an environmentally responsible alternative.
“Of all the fixtures that you can use, your lighting effect is going to be the worst with solar. The longevity is going to be the smallest,” Lucas said. He notes that high quality conventional lighting fixtures typically offer a lifetime warranty. Conversely, he describes most outdoor solar lights as “disposable products” which will need to be replaced every few years, negating their ecological benefits.
To get the most out of outdoor solar lighting, Chadwick emphasizes the benefits of placing their units in direct sunlight.
“It is optimal for them to be in direct sunlight. If it’s very shady, you’ll run into problems. As long as you’re getting some sun, they should be good to go,” Chadwick said. Classy Caps solar products are dependable even on cloudy days.
“Solar lighting should perform quite well in warm weather climates primarily because sunlight is abundant throughout the year. This provides more consistent brightness and longer operating hours year-round in places such as Southern Virginia as compared to more northern regions. With ample sunlight and mild winters, solar lighting is a sustainable and cost-effective solution for outdoor illumination,” Ketcham said.
At the same time, Ketcham notes that the batteries used for storage in outdoor solar devices may degrade more quickly in a warm weather environment like the Roanoke Valley due to the greater humidity.
Ease of maintenance is another plus with outdoor solar lighting. Minor seasonal care will be necessary to keep the solar panel working properly. Leaves, snow, and mud must be removed to keep the unit collecting energy.
“Some people think they need expensive cleaners. In fact, we urge customers not to use any sort of cleaning products on them. All you need for the solar panel is to remove debris,” Chadwick said.
“To clean it well, all you need is a microfiber cloth and some warm soapy water. That will enable it to collect the sun more efficiently. The solar panels are waterproof,” he continued.
Aesthetically, Lucas noted that many customers do not wish to see the actual mechanics of a lighting fixture by day. Avoiding this is difficult with solar panels.
“The actual solar panel that’s part of the fixture can have a big footprint. And it’s often really hard to hide,” Lucas said.
Planning ahead is key to any home lighting project. Start by figuring out whether this is a project you plan to do yourself or if you need to hire a contractor. Do your research to figure out the dependable contractors in your area.
“Come up with a budget and a proposed longevity for your situation. If this is your forever house, it’s going to make sense to get something that will last a lifetime. If it’s a place you’re planning to live for two or three years, it probably doesn’t make sense to have as large a budget or as long of a timeline to finish the project,” Lucas said.
The story above first appeared in our September/October 2026 issue.
