Solar Driveway Lights: What Works, What Does Not and Where to Put Them

Solar Driveway Lights: What Works, What Does Not and Where to Put Them

A long driveway that disappears into the dark is awkward at best and a trip hazard at worst. Running mains cable down a driveway means trenching, conduit and an electrician. Solar lights skip all of that, and they are one of the most common DIY lighting jobs in Australia. But "solar driveway light" covers several quite different products, and the wrong one in the wrong place fails quickly. This guide sorts out the options.

First, decide what job the light has to do

A driveway light does one of three jobs, and each calls for a different product:

• Marking the edge so you can see where the driveway ends and the garden begins. This is the most common job, and the one solar does best.
• Marking the way along a longer route so visitors can find the house. Stake lights or bollards at intervals do this.
• Lighting an area such as the parking spot, the front door or the garage entry. That needs a brighter fitting, usually a wall light or a sensor floodlight.

Solar marker lights show where things are; they do not light up the surface. If you want to see a dropped key or someone standing at the gate, you need more output than a marker provides.

The four types of solar driveway light

1. Stake lights along the edge

A single warm-white LED on a short stake, pushed into the soil beside the driveway. Cheap, quick and easy to relocate. Our pathway stake lights are this type: a single warm LED, a small panel and a rechargeable AAA-size battery, rated IP65. Use them on the garden side of the edge, never on the driving surface.

2. In-ground disks along borders

Round lights that sit flush in the lawn or garden bed, so only the glow shows. They cannot be knocked over by a car mirror or a mower. They are fine along a lawn border or the soil beside paving.

An important point about load ratings. Some in-ground lights are sold as "driveway" or "road stud" lights and are rated to carry the weight of a vehicle. Most solar disk lights are not. If the supplier does not publish a load rating, treat the light as garden-only and keep it out of the wheel paths. Our in-ground disk lights have no published vehicle load rating, so we recommend them only for lawn and garden edges.

3. Wall and pillar lights at the entry

Gate pillars, garage walls and the house wall beside the front door are good places for a small warm wall light. They mark the entry rather than the route. Our stainless solar wall and fence lights suit pillars of brick and sandstone, fixing with two screws. If your driveway has sandstone driveway pavers and matching pillars, a light at each pillar defines the entry nicely.

4. Bollards and post-top lights

Taller fittings, usually 300 to 600 mm high, are visible from the car and work as clear route markers on a long drive. Quality varies widely, and a bollard with a tiny panel will not stay lit. We do not currently sell bollards.

How many do you need, and where?

As a starting point:

• Space edge markers roughly 2 metres apart on a straight section, closer on bends so the curve reads clearly.
• Light both sides of a narrow driveway if you want a clear corridor; one side only is fine for a wide one or where a wall already defines the other edge.
• Put an extra light at the gate, the bend, any change of level and where the driveway meets the road.

For a 20 metre driveway lit on one side that is about ten stake lights. Our Driveway Edge & Path Kit combines eight in-ground disks and six stake lights, which is enough for a drive of that length with a little left for the path to the front door.

Position matters more than the light

Solar lights depend on the sun. Before you push anything into the ground, think through the day.

• Sun. Each panel needs several hours of direct or bright indirect daylight. A driveway running along a high south fence, or under a big tree, will not charge its lights properly. Walk the edge at midday and note the shaded stretches.
• Mulch and leaves. Disk lights especially get buried. Keep the panel face clear.
• Vehicles. Mirrors, bull bars, trailers and delivery trucks all overhang the driving surface. Mount lights back from the edge, not on it.
• Slope and water. A light at the low point of a sloping drive can sit in running water. IP65 handles rain; do not leave a stake light underwater.
• Neighbours. Marker lights are low-output and downward, so spill is minimal, but aim any spotlight carefully.

What to expect from solar driveway lights

Be realistic. Marker lights give a clear route in the evening. They do not light the driveway like a streetlight. Run time depends on the day's sun: the supplier rates our stake lights at about eight hours and our disks at about three to six hours after dusk following a full charge, and those numbers fall in winter and shade. If you need lighting all night, think about sensor-activated wall lights on the house and gate, and accept that solar markers will dim late at night.

When to choose mains or low voltage instead

Solar suits short and medium driveways with decent sun. If your driveway is very long, mostly shaded, or you want even, bright, switch-controlled lighting, a low-voltage or mains system is worth the cost of trenching. If you are laying or relaying the driveway, that is the moment to put conduit under it, even if you start with solar. See low voltage vs solar garden lights for the detail.

If your driveway is stone, the sandstone is the point. Pale sandstone pavers reflect a warm glow well, and a few markers at the edge look better than a row of bright fittings. Sandstone pavers and handsplit flagging are both used for driveways, and we can advise on the right stone for heavy traffic.

Checklist

• Decide whether you need markers, wayfinding or area light.
• Choose lights with a stated IP65 or better rating and a stated battery.
• Use stakes and flush disks beside, not on, the driving surface unless a load rating is published.
• Space roughly 2 metres apart, closer on bends.
• Check the sun at each position before fixing anything.
• Clean the panels every month or two.

Browse our solar path lights for stake and in-ground options, or ask us about lighting for a stone driveway project.

Frequently asked questions

Will solar driveway lights work in winter?

They charge less in winter because the days are shorter and the sun is lower, so expect shorter run times and a dimmer light. Positions in the open will do much better than shaded ones.

Do I need planning approval to light my driveway?

Ordinary garden marker lights generally do not, but rules for lighting near the road, shared driveways or heritage properties vary by council and by situation. If in doubt, check with your local council.

What about a long rural driveway?

Solar markers can work at intervals along a long drive, but the number of lights climbs quickly and each needs its own sunny position. For a drive of several hundred metres, think about marking only the bends, the gate and the house entry.

Can solar lights be stolen from a driveway?

Stake and ground lights near a street can be taken. Fixing wall lights to a pillar with screws makes them harder to remove than a stake that pulls out of the ground.