Solar Christmas Lights: Should You Make the Switch?

By: Alyson McNutt English

Published: December 1, 2011

Solar Christmas lights don´t cost anything to operate, but the high purchase price might not add up to savings.

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In the last few years, energy-efficient LED Christmas lights have largely replaced more wattage-thirsty incandescent strings, resulting in significant savings — LED lights use 70% less energy than their incandescent predecessors, and they last up to 10 times longer as well.

Now there´s a new kid in the string-light neighborhood: LED solar Christmas lights are appearing at retailers around the country, promising grid-free festive lighting for holiday-happy consumers.

Powering up solar Christmas lights

A string of solar Christmas lights uses a small solar panel for power; there are no extension cords that must be plugged into outlets. The panel — about the size of a hockey puck — powers rechargeable batteries that illuminate a 25- to 100-bulb string of LED lights.

Panels come with small stakes so you can put them in the ground, where they can take advantage of the sun. A fully-charged string of lights should glow for 6 to 8 hours after the sun goes down.

Solar lights vs. LED plug-in costs

Most consumers expect new technologies to cost more, but if saving energy and money is your main reason for considering solar-powered LED holiday lights, solar lights may not offer enough cost-saving to offset the higher initial purchase price.

Compare purchase prices:

• The average cost for a 100-light string of miniature solar-powered LED lights is about $0.30 per bulb, or about $30 per string.

• The average cost for a 100-light string of miniature plug-in LED lights is $0.08 per bulb, or about $8 per string.

Compare costs to operate:

• Operating a string of plug-in LED Christmas lights for 300 hours — more than enough hours for an entire holiday season — costs about $0.30, using an average energy cost of $0.11 per kilowatt hour.

• Solar-powered Christmas lights, of course, don´t cost anything to operate. That means you´re saving 30 cents per year in energy costs.

Do the math, and you´ll see that it´ll take about 45 years for the energy savings from solar-power to equal the difference in purchase price between a plug-in string and a solar-powered string.

Advantages of solar lights

• no extension cords

• no need for exterior electrical outlets

• withstand cold temperatures and precipitation

• zero cost to operate

• light output comparable to plug-in lighting

• a green option

Disadvantages

• higher initial cost to purchase

• may not operate under cloudy skies

• unproven longevity (too new on the market for results)

View on FOXmls.com

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