If you’ve ever wanted to add a bit of accent lighting around your home, but would prefer to avoid the cost and inconvenience of an electrician, this guide is for you. With the best solar gutter lights, you can easily add a bit of illumination almost anywhere around your property.

The best solar gutter lights use energy from the sun and convert it into electricity, illuminating the side of your home or garage automatically.

Before you start shopping for the best solar lights, there are some points you need to consider. Below is a list of some of the factors that go into choosing the best solar lights. Be sure to understand each of these considerations.

Type

There are three main categories of solar gutter lights: solar sky gutter lights, hybrid solar lights, and photovoltaic gutter lights:

• Solar sky gutter lights detect available light from the sun and clouds in the sky and brighten or dim accordingly. The solar panels detect the fluctuating voltage, resulting in varying lightening levels at night.
• Photovoltaic gutter lights are ideal in places when there is no grid or if the grid is unreliable. Also known as stand-alone lights, these economical and environmentally-friendly options convert the sunlight into electricity and store it in the battery. They operate by using the stored energy within the battery.
• Hybrid solar lights combine concentrated solar and photovoltaic power.

Material

Since most solar gutter lights attach directly to a home’s gutters, the materials chosen are an important factor. A light made with bulky materials, such as heavy-duty metal, will eventually bend and deform a gutter, so heft is worth considering.

By and large, the best solar gutter lights are plastic in construction. These lights are lightweight but durable enough to withstand the elements. However, the brackets used to clip them to the gutter is usually steel, which gives these units the strength they need to withstand wind and heavy rains.

Some of the lights that attach directly to the home’s structure might be aluminum, as it’s more corrosion-resistant than steel, and they’re also lighter weight.

Brightness

The best solar gutter lights come in a wide range of brightness levels, and your lighting needs will determine which product is the best for you.

Many small clip-on lights offer just enough accent lighting to add a tasteful glow to your property. These lights provide between 20 and 50 lumens each, which is enough to illuminate a garden bed or a bit of a walkway relatively well.

For more light, there are models available with outputs over 500 lumens. These lights are excellent for lighting a driveway, fenceline, or other areas you’d prefer to keep brightly lit.

Operating Time

Most of the best solar lights will automatically turn on when their built-in photosensors recognize that it’s getting dark. How long they run for, or their operating time, varies depending on battery size, light output, and how much sun each light receives during a given day.

Battery power can vary between 800mAh or up to 3,000mAh, and the larger the battery, the more energy it can produce. Some lights can run for up to 10 hours on the energy stored from the sun that day. While few lights will power their way through the entire night, the average run-time is between 6 and 8 hours.

Battery Storage

Solar gutter lights have on-board batteries that charge using energy from the sun, similar to those found on solar chargers. The light absorbs solar energy via a built-in photovoltaic cell. The cell then converts the energy into electricity and stores it in the battery.

The panel’s size relative to the battery’s size determines how efficiently the light will charge. Too large of a cell and the battery will fill too quickly, wasting sunlight. Too small, and a battery may never reach its full potential. For this reason, most manufacturers try to size their photovoltaic cells to match their output ratings.

Installation

Choosing the best solar gutter lights for your home might come down to ease of installation. Many of these models simply attach to the lip of your gutters, tightening down onto the edge. All that’s required to secure them is a ladder and a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, depending on the model.

Other models might require the user to attach them directly to the home’s structure with brackets and screws. While this could seem like an inconvenience, these models typically have the greatest light output and battery life, so there is a tradeoff. Installing these lights typically requires a ladder, a power drill, and a screwdriver.