The thing is, a solar floodlight in your driveway, backyard, or front yard may come in handier than you think.
Whether you want to be able to get up to check on the dog at night, look out for your spouse or kids coming home or feel protected from intruders, the best solar flood lights will give you peace of mind without wasting your money or energy.
Keep reading this article and learn more information about solar flood lights.
Top Picks Solar Flood Lights
The Upgrade Option
Cyberdax 100W Solar Powered Street Flood Lights
An extremely bright light that can be set on a timer or schedule. The Cyberdax floodlight goes above and beyond what a standard floodlight normally does.
The Value Option
A-Zone Solar Motion Sensor Light Outdoor
A smaller, compact floodlight with a motion sensor and solid performance at a lower price, perfect for someone on a budget.
How To Choose the Best Solar Floodlights
Solar energy is environmentally friendly, safe, and gives you a lot of savings. We all know that solar panels are durable. That’s why there are many people who choose them.
Before we get to our reviews of specific products, let’s talk about how to pick out the very best solar floodlight for your needs. This might be a bit hard, but knowing the factors why they are great will be a big help.
The reason is it will better suit some systems for your household, and there are a few common features of solar floodlights that you will want to look out for. You should also give importance if it is value for money.
Here are the factors that you should consider:
Brightness
What matters most in a floodlight? How bright it is, of course! For the best security, your floodlights need to be bright enough to fill an outdoor space and allow you to see clearly.
Floodlights measure brightness in lumens, which is a term to describe visible light. In other words, the more lumens a floodlight has, the brighter it will be. We recommend a floodlight having more lumens than an average household lightbulb.
For your reference, a light in your kitchen or bathroom generally has around 800 lumens, while the brightest floodlight on our list has 5,000; if you are looking for a floodlight for a large area, the more lumens, the better.
Run Time
Solar-powered lights are great for your energy bill but can be a little annoying regarding their run time. The best solar-powered floodlights will hold their charge well and be able to run for a long time continuously before they need recharging.
Most solar-powered lights require about 7 to 8 hours of full sunlight to charge up completely. The average runtime for a floodlight is around 5 or 6 hours – that means 5 or 6 uninterrupted hours of light. The most extended runtime on our list of floodlights is up to 20 hours.
Aside from being energy efficient, floodlights with dimming settings or motion sensors will help to conserve energy and extend their runtime. If you are looking for a floodlight to stay on all night or for extended periods, keep an eye out for those energy-conserving features.
Weatherproofing and Reliability
Another important factor in finding the best solar-powered floodlights is how long they will last. Regardless of the cost of your lights, once you have installed them in your home, you will want to keep them there for a long time, without hassle with repairing or replacing them.
Make sure also that you install it with a ring bridge to function properly. That’s why it is essential to look for floodlights that will hold up well in wet or stormy weather. For the best reliability, look for waterproof and corrosion-resistant floodlights – especially if you live in an area that sees a lot of rain or snow.
Sometimes simpler is better for reliability. The fewer special features and modes a set of floodlights has, the more likely they will last for years without repair.
Modes
Even though simpler floodlights are often more reliable, you can benefit greatly from a light system with dimming modes, automatic shutoff, and motion sensors.
A light with motion sensors is excellent for security. The sensors will detect movement and turn on automatically – you can also set them to shut off again after a certain period of inactivity. The lights will save energy by charging during the night when they need to.
If you don’t want your lights to shut off fully, a dimming mode can also help conserve energy.
Battery Type and Capacity
During the day, solar flood lights charge using a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that stores energy for nighttime use. The milliamp-hours capacity of the battery (mAh) indicates its size and coverage. The higher the capacity, the larger the battery life.
Most solar flood lights come with a milliamp-hour rating of around 2,000 to 3,600. Choose a longer coverage distance for the best results.
Bulb Types
Today, solar flood lights are almost always illuminated by light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which emit bright, non-heating light beams while drawing little power. Because of this, LEDs make an excellent choice for providing intense security light.
Ingress Protection Rating
Outdoor lights are rated for ingress protection (IP), a two-digit number that tells you how well the light resists damage from dirt and moisture. The first digit shows how well the light resists damage from solid items, ranging from 1 to 6, with 6 being the most waterproof, even keeping out fine dust.
The second number, ranging from 1 to 8, reflects the light’s water resistance. A rating of 8 indicates that the light is entirely watertight. Flood lights are usually rated 65 to 67.
Dusk to Dawn vs. Motion Detection
When the sun sets in the evening, a dusk-to-dawn flood light stays on all night or until its internal battery is depleted. It is an excellent option to illuminate your property with continuous light.
A disadvantage of solar lights that operate from dusk to dawn is that if the previous day was overcast or rainy even with the best solar powered dusk to dawn light, their batteries might not charge fully. If this occurs, the floodlights will remain on for only a few hours before dimming and going out.
A motion-detected flood light only activates when it detects motion and remains on for a predetermined amount of time, typically 20 to 30 seconds, before turning off again. Because motion-activated lighting uses less battery power, it is likelier to keep working all night.
Wattage of the Panels
The panel’s wattage refers to the energy generated when conditions are optimal. Panel wattage is gauged by its efficiency and build quality, so the higher the wattage, the better. To power more lighting, you’ll need a higher wattage solar panel.
Because they have a greater surface area, larger solar panels produce more wattage. It is necessary to recharge their batteries so that high-power outdoor floodlights are equipped with two or more solar panels rather than just one.
The energy generated per hour by a 10-watt solar panel is 10 watts-hours, for example. If your security light has a lot of luminosity, you should go for a higher wattage panel. If you have a low-energy light, a one to five-watt solar panel will work, but bigger lights will require ten to twenty-watt solar panels for optimal lighting.
Attached vs. Detached Solar Panels
The solar panel is directly attached to the light in some lights. It makes installation a little easier, but it also means that you have to mount the light somewhere it will receive a lot of sunlight during the day.
Other lights come with a separate solar panel mounted in another spot. That means a little more effort in setting up the system, but you can get the most charge by mounting the panel somewhere it will stay out of the shade and get the most sunlight possible.
If your light has a lower run time, detached panels would be the best choice to help it get the most charge. If you’re mounting your solar light in a shaded place, look for a model with a detachable solar panel.
Best Solar Floodlights Reviews
Nothing is more frustrating than coming home to a dark house, but you don’t have to fumble for your keys in the dark anymore with a solar floodlight. You’ll be able to rest in your favorite part of your house with this light.
There are a lot of models of solar floodlights on the market these days, and it can be hard to decide which one to buy. That’s why we’ve done the research for you and put together a list of the best solar floodlights based on customer reviews.
One of these might be the perfect option if you’re looking for a solar floodlight that will provide plenty of light for your house or business and motion sensitivity.
Sunforce 82123 120-LED Triple Head Solar Motion Light
The Sunforce triple headlight is one of the best options on the market right now in terms of price, durability, brightness, and features.
Sunforce features:
- It is waterproof and has a long enough run time to stay on all night if needed and can be mounted on the wall too.
- It has a motion sensor range that can adjust according to your needs. In other words, you can decide exactly where the movement will trigger the floodlights – this can be helpful if you don’t want a swinging door or movement on a walkway to turn on the lights, for example.
- The second setting on the light controls the length of time that it is on after the motion sensor has been triggered. It helps you to save energy and set the light to stay on as long as you need it before it automatically shuts off again.
- This light has 1000 lumens. That is not the brightest, but bright enough to make dark areas evident without being too shocking.
- The solar panel is not mounted directly on the light but comes with a 15-foot cable.
That’s enough length to mount the light wherever you need it and still be able to mount the solar panel separately somewhere it will get plenty of direct sunlight.
The Sunforce Triple Headlight is our best pick overall because it is reliable, has adjustable settings, has a great run time, and comes at a fair price. If you are looking for the best floodlight system without overpaying, this Sunforce could be the best way to go.
Pros
- The Ultra-clear design maximizes the amount of sunlight streaming into your pool.
- The Heavier design makes it durable and wind-resistant.
- UV protection for long-lasting solar coverage.
- 6-year warranty.
Cons
- Run time can vary dramatically depending on how much charge it gets during the day
- Waterproof but may be damaged by serious stormy weather
Cyberdax 100W Solar Powered Street Flood Lights
This Cyberdax floodlight goes above and beyond what a standard floodlight should do. It comes at a much higher price than the other options on our list, but with that price, you get extreme brightness, a consistently long run time, and various adjustable features.
One of the coolest things about this floodlight is its brightness. It has 5,000 lumens – by far the brightest floodlight on our list. That brightness could make it an excellent choice for someone looking for a security floodlight.
This floodlight also has an adjustable bracket lamp that allows you to rotate it better. The light operates in two different modes. The first is an automatic on/off mode.
You can set the light to turn on and shut off at certain times, always to have light at night and conserve energy during the day.
No need to worry about losing charge – the maximum runtime on this floodlight is 20 hours, so it will always stay on through the night. The second mode is a timer. With a compatible remote control, you can set the light to turn on for 3, 5, or 8 hours and then shut off automatically once the light is off.
One drawback to this floodlight is that it does not have a motion sensor – that is why it falls just short of our number-one spot. But with the handheld remote and easy controls, it could be excellent for someone that wants to keep a large property lit up at night for security purposes.
Pros
- Detached solar panel – mount it wherever it will get the most sunlight
- Super long run time
- Far-reaching light – illuminates approximately 300 square meters fully
- Adjustable modes
- Will automatically shut off, either at a certain time of day or at the end of a set duration
- Easy to control with a wireless remote
- Durable and weather-resistant – IP67 waterproof rating
Cons
- Much pricier than other options
- Does not come with a motion sensor
- The light itself is fairly small – for a farther reach, you will need to purchase more (3-4 units will light a whole basketball court, for example
A-Zone Solar Motion Sensor Light Outdoor
This next option might be the best choice for someone looking for a reliable solar-powered floodlight on a budget. It is a little smaller than the other lights on our list, but it has a surprisingly long run time (ability to run up to 40 hours) and a few high-tech features.
The A-zone light has a motion sensor with a range of 26 feet. It has 800 lumens of visible light. The light beam is a little smaller and more concentrated than others, but it will illuminate the angle around the motion sensor’s range side.
That means it could be an excellent light to mount above a driveway, to help you safely park and get out of your car at night. It could work equally well over the front doorway.
The solar panel is attached to the light but is on a 360-degree swivel, so it can be angled to catch the most sunlight during the day. The light is beneficial for security – it has a design that looks like a mounted security camera, which might help ward off break-ins.
Pros
- Motion sensor with a fairly long range
- Photocell sensors automatically shut the light off when it is light outside – you will not need to set it to turn off.
- Lightweight and durable aluminum construction
- Amazing run time
- Single unit – easy to mount and adjust
Cons
- Much dimmer than others on our list
- Smaller, concentrated light beam
- No waterproof rating – there is some risk of it wearing down or having some technical issues after a storm.
Westgate Flood Light with Mount
The Westgate Flood light is an excellent option if you need illumination for your garden with no thermal damage. It does not emit infrared rays, UV radiation, or thermal energy. It has all the features you would want in solar light.
It is suitable for gardens, swimming pools, and garages, in addition to being suitable for gardens. The dim light is combined with a halogen bulb, which most dim lights don’t have. It requires no maintenance and is powered by an LED bulb.
Furthermore, green farmers will benefit from this led solar floodlight because it will assist in the growth of their crops. You can choose from 70,000 hours of dim light or seven years of unrestricted warranty.
Unfortunately, it does not have a manufacturer’s label. People would undoubtedly have preferred to receive a device with the Westgate brand name, as they trust brands more than anything else.
Furthermore, many buyers have been dismayed to find a different device in the box after purchasing a product with the Westgate brand name. Despite the problem, it performs very well.
Pros
- The main feature is that it has a large 7-year guarantee.
- It provides 110 lumens of dim light to help you see in the dark.
- The switch is installed using a knuckle joint.
Cons
- It is an unbranded flood light.
100W Street Solar-Powered Flood Lights
The 100W Street Solar Flood Light is our top choice for the best solar flood light because of its wide range of a battery, solar panels, LED bulbs, and manufacturer values. It is ten times brighter than competitors and has a five-meter cable and remote control with four lighting modes.
It can effectively illuminate your outdoor location with continuous bright light for up to eight hours. It is made of waterproof and weatherproof ABS plastic alongside die-cast aluminum and runs well in rainy weather.
The solar flood light features A-Grade polycrystalline silicon solar panels, 60% high efficiency in solar energy conversion, induction controls, and a 36,000mAh lithium ion phosphate power battery.
It provides light for up to 300 square meters and has a range of up to 15 meters. The solar flood light manufacturer has a good reputation in the solar industry.
Despite its excellent overall performance, this solar panel has a few issues. The IP rating is average, the cable is too short, and it is quite large. However, it meets our solar floodlight requirements.
Pros
- The 100W Solar Light is lightweight at less than 15 pounds, making it mobile.
- It can be set up in a DIY manner.
- The light is made of metal which can withstand weather conditions.
- A five-year guarantee is provided when you purchase the light.
- This remote-controlled IR light senses IR light and is simple to operate.
Cons
- The duration of this light is between 3 and 8 hours.
- It has too short a cable.
Conclusion
All three of these floodlights are some of the best in the business right now. There are plenty of reasons to like them, but we think one stands out above the other.
It has a motion sensor with adjustable settings and a detached solar panel, and it is waterproof and reliable. On top of all that, it comes at a reasonable price. The Sunforce light has all the requirements of a great solar-powered floodlight.
That said, any of these options could work well in your home. One of these solar-powered floodlights should do the trick, whether you are looking for an extra security measure or just a way to light up your driveway when you get home late.
