The decision to use standard garden lights or solar garden lights comes down to everyones individual situation, skill set, and budget. Here are some points to keep in mind when sizing up your options between using solar garden lights, or standard garden lights (those that require a power source via cable.)

Solar Garden Lights are a lot easier to get set up. Why? Because there’s no cables to deal with, that’s why! All it takes is purchasing them and then placing them in the garden, taking care to make sure the solar panels (either built into the lights or running attached with a small cord) are placed in such a way to capture direct sunlight. That is all it’s going to take to power the lights, and this means it’s very easy for everyone involved.

Standard Garden Lights are harder to set up. You could run a cable on top of the ground, but that would look ridiculous. Instead, you’ll need to properly bury or at least strategically conceal the power cables. This means digging and manuevering. It might also mean some kind of electrical skills as you tweak the light set up for your garden. What this offers in trade is the ability to have a lot more control over where the lights are placed, since the cables can be routed anywhere under the ground, and no light source is not in any way related to being exposed to the sun to capture solar energy.

Another factor between these two options is the price and cost of each type of lighting. Solar garden lights cost more than standard garden lights. However, the big selling point here is that you will spend zero dollars powering them. Year after year will pass and you will have garden lights on, and will not spend a penny on keeping them on. But at the same time, the cost of standard garden lights is considerably less than that of their solar counterparts. The budget may demand a less expensive choice to start with.

One more factor is this question you may want to ask yourself: How important is it to you to use energy efficient, green lighting?

Gardeners work with the earth, and many extend their respect for the plants and trees and the air and the grass by their work in the garden. For them, it only makes sense to use solar powered garden lights, as this plays a small but important role in reducing ones overall footprint. This is something to think about it for anyone who uses garden lighting.

How exactly do solar garden lights work their magic? Without getting into any technical details, it’s simple: they are equipped with small solar panels. When the sun is shining, these solar panels are able to capture a tiny, tiny fraction of the energy emitted. Then, this energy is re-purposed into powering the equipped lights. (FYI, the solar cells themselves are usually made up of either pure silicon, amorphous silicon, or crystalline silicon. For more information on the technical set up of a solar powered light, check out this post from How Stuff Works.)

This means that you only get lights from a solared powered garden light if there’s been enough sun during the day for the solar panels to capture. The specifics vary from model to model, depending on how many solar panels are used and how efficient they are, but it generally works so that if it’s sunny for much of the day, the solar garden lights will keep light until late at night, and even through the night. Some solar powered garden lights won’t last as long though, and may give you a return of about half – for instance, 8 hours of sunlight will give you 4 hours of solar powered garden light. This doesn’t sound like a lot, but this means that the garden will be lit up all the way up to most peoples bedtimes.

Like any garden or home accessory, solar garden lights come in a wide variety of designs. Many are self contained, meaning the solar panel and the light are all together in a compact unit. Others attach to a solar panel that can be placed a few feet away. These types of units are ideal for a set up in which the lights need to be placed in such a way that direct sunlight wouldn’t hit them, but with the attached panel running a few feet away, you’re still able to capture solar energy. Prices vary quite a bit, but expecting to pay around $100 for a solar garden lights set from a standard home improvement store is probably about right for most people getting started with solar garden lights.