Do Solar Lights Stay ON All Night?

Fewer daylight hours in the winters can be a challenge for many low-cost solar garden and landscaping solutions.

You have probably had a bad experience with solar garden lighting solutions that only light a few hours and even then provide dim lighting and are wondering if there are types or brands that can last all night.

Before you give up on solar-powered lighting, here is some advice that can help you understand the limitations of solar lights, why they may be lighting for a few hours, and a few tips that can help you possibly extend how many hours of lighting you receive from your solar lights

You may also want to check out the post: How to fix solar lights not working?

Will Solar Lights Stay on All Night?

Many solar garden and landscape light solutions on the market do not light all night and typically provide light for between 6 – 10 hours only after receiving about 8 hours of sunshine.

How long they light for depends largely on how many hours of direct sunlight their solar panels receive during the day and the capacity of the storage batteries.

So, if lights have smaller mAh batteries or there are fewer sunlight hours such as during the winter then you can expect the solar lights to light for even fewer hours.

Why Your Solar Lights Might not be Staying ON

Besides the number of sunshine hours the solar light receives, there are other possible reasons that may explain why your solar lights are staying on for a short time.

  • There are objects casting shadows on the solar panels or the panels are dirty and need to be cleaning to receive unrestricted sunlight.
  • The solar lights have aging and failing batteries. As the solar batteries age, they lose their capacity to store charge. So even with the required number of sunshine hours falling directly on the solar panel, the lights may only come on for a short time.
  • Some solar light brands have limited solar panel and battery storage capacity. Some solar light brands are designed to light for a few hours at most, typically 6 hours at best.

They have smaller 300 mAh NiCd batteries and correspondingly smaller solar panels. Several of these types typically provide lighting for up to 3-4 hours before they dim and blackout.

How Long Should Solar Lights Stay On?

This depends on the type of solar light.

Good quality solar garden, landscape or string lights with clean, solar panels positioned to avoid shadows as much as possible can light for anywhere up to 8-10 hours if they receive at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight.

Higher capacity solar floodlights and street lamps can light for up to 18 hours provided the battery is fully charged.

So, it depends on the type and light design, how much sunlight is received, and the capacity of the light solar panels and batteries.

You may also want to read the post: What type of batteries do solar garden lights use?

How to Make Your Solar Lights Last Longer

With a few tweaks, you may be able to make your solar lights last longer.

Here are a few tips that might be helpful depending on the type and inbuilt features they have.

  • Check that there are no shadows cast on the solar panels. Confirm that there are no shadows cast on the solar light panels during the day.

These affect the amount of sunshine the panels receive and therefore how many hours they light for.

  • Inspect and clean the solar light panels regularly to remove any debris. Do the solar light panels have any debris that is blocking sunlight?

Are the solar light panels discolored? Either of these scenarios affects the amount of sunshine the panels receive and therefore how many hours they light for.

  • Activate the energy-saving features (if available). Do the lights have the motion-sensing feature?

Do you have the option to switch to the dim mode throughout the night unless motion is detected? Or, 50% brightness?

Activating these features can extend how many hours your solar light provides compared to when they are set to be always ON and at maximum brightness.

  • Beware of the inherent limitations, many have low capacity 300 – 600 mAh batteries.

The amount of energy and number of hours of light depends on how many hours of direct sunlight fall on the panel.

  • Consider alternative solar light solutions. If the solar lights you have do not last long enough, consider getting other well-regarded solar lights with larger capacity solar panels and batteries.

These cost more but can be able to light for longer. There is one particular model that can provide light for about 18 hours using the energy stored in its 36Ah battery.

  • Switch On the solar lights later. You also have the option to switch them ON before you go to sleep.

This is not as convenient as using the automatic dusk to dawn lighting feature, it can still gain you a few extra hours of lighting in the night.

Lastly, it is still possible that solar light may not be a suitable solution for your location particularly if you receive few sunlight hours and are not willing to spend more for a higher capacity solar light solution.

A wired AC or low voltage DC solution using LEDs can also work well. Given that it uses LEDs, it is low cost to run, it provides enough light given the LEDs chosen with the disadvantage of requiring some wiring.

You may also want to check out: Should you replace your solar light batteries? (What signs to check out)

Final Thoughts

Many solar garden and landscape lights do not stay lighting all night and usually provide up to 8 – 10 hours of lighting.

Even then, the actual duration of lighting depends on how many hours of direct sunlight the solar panels receive.

If the duration of lighting is shorter than expected, you may be able to extend it by confirming that there are no shadows cast on the solar panels, cleaning the solar light panels, and switching on the motion sensor feature if available.

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