Solar lights are a great innovation and over the last few years they have gotten progressively better to to point where even cheaper solar light for garden fixtures can provide great functional light for a long time each night.  However, while you may be tempted to put them anywhere, even the shade, it is a temptation that needs to be resisted.  Your solar lights need direct sunlight.  Here’s why.

Solar lights need direct sunlight because solar cells are not 100% effective.  They don’t turn all of the sun’s energy into electricity, only a very small percentage of it actually gets converted.  While great strides have been made since the first solar panels, this is still a problem that scientists and solar power in general faces.

Because only a small amount of the sun that hits any solar garden light gets turned into electricity, you need to place the light in the direct sunlight if you want to make sure that it completely charges.  If the light is not completely charged each day, odds are that it will run out of battery life at night – hopefully not when you want to use it.  Not fully charging your solar lights also risks wearing out the battery as much as twice as early as you normally would, forcing you to spend money on a replacement.

Avoid these problems, find place your lights in the sun where they can get the light that they need.