Solar Christmas shopper—Day 12

Solar-powered yard lights have been available for a number of years now. They’re a great alternative to wired yard lights, since you don’t need to add additional wiring or circuitry to place them in your yard. All you need to do is stick them in the ground, and as the sun sets, they automatically come on.

Originally, solar yard lights cost more than $60 and had dim LED lights. They were limited to traditional-looking yard lights. Now they’re available in sorts of form factors, like the Allsop Calla Lily Solar Garden Art lights pictured here. These are hand-blown glass Calla lilies with amber-colored LEDs, which offer a warm glow in the evening to help illuminate a garden or a pathway to a home. They’re powered by a photovoltaic cell which charges two AA rechargeable batteries contained in the device. And they run about $40 each.

You can also get solar-powered garden lights from a hardware store. They usually come in packs of four to six and cost as little as $25.