Solar vs Wired Lighting

So, you have admitted to yourself (or been lovingly informed by a loved one) that you need more light in your yard. You might have a beautiful yard that you’ve spent time and money landscaping, but you simply can’t enjoy it properly past dusk. Where do you go from here?

Before I became immersed in the outdoor lighting world, that was precisely ME. New homeowner in Millcreek, excited about my new house and yard and all the possibilities for it all. But the front and the back were very dark. And with the warm Utah summer nights, I knew that I had to figure out something out! The obvious quick and dirty solution is to pick up some staked in-ground solar path lights from Costco/Home Depot/Amazon and space them along your pathways and gathering areas. That is infinitely better than no light and oftentimes is the best solution for a new homeowner who needs to watch their budget for a bit. These lights are great for being able to safely walk your pathways, but they’ll do only that - light the ground and pathways, not shine much light on the smiling faces of your family and friends you want to be enjoying the space with. Insider tip: avoid putting these path lights in your grass else be prepared to knock them over during lawn mowing.

You could add overhead solar string lights to the mix, but it ends up being the same story - not enough light. I put these solar string lights over my vegetable garden:

You can see the low level of light given off by these Notice the very small solar panel^

Can you even spot my dog in the above picture?

If I wanted to simply show someone my super cool veggie garden, these were sufficient to not bump into the planter beds, but I had to pull out my phone's flashlight if I wanted to see if I had any fruit on the vine. In the right spot, this level of light could be sufficient, but in most cases you’ll wish it was brighter. All of the above assumes that you have consistent sunlight and enough hours of it to keep these lit for as long as you need. Being one of the sunniest cities in America, this shouldn’t be a problem in Salt Lake except in winter.

If you're still reading, you are trying to determine whether solar or wired is the right solution for your yard. Let’s be honest - you're hoping that the cheap, easy-to-install solar lights will be enough for now. And I fully believe that it can be and should be for many of you out there. Especially if you're younger, in a starter home, or tight on your budget. I enjoyed my solar setup in certain areas for a couple of years before I upgraded. The footnote for that statement is that solar lights were inadequate in providing the light needed to spend meaningful time in a space.

In some backyard setups, depending on the space and the availability of outlets it might not be too hard to add some wired lights yourself to make the space inviting and usable. Below is my old DIY setup - just an extension cord and a string of bistro lights from Amazon. Ultimately, it looked a little messy - seeing the extension cord and wires running to the lights - and the lights did break a few different times due to weather, falling branches, and an animal chewing thru the wire, but it was cheap and easy and made the space usable at night - a huge upgrade.

The wired lights give you enough light to hang out and really use the space. Yes, everyone should appreciate my super cute dogs :)

Issues with DIY wired lights:

Tangle of wires ^^ Visible wires / questionable placement Squirrel chewed thru them!

Unless you are an A+ DIYer, it will be hard to have wired lights without also having a tangle of wires somewhere in your setup, and that is the time that you call the pros. Professional lighting installers will not only get you the highest quality light fixtures, but they will also allow you to light any part of your home without having obvious wires running throughout your yard. In addition, none of these solutions will give you the stunning, eye-catching look that high quality accent or uplights will give to the front facade of your house.