Off The Grid Power

Solar Christmas String Lights:  Professional Grade vs. Toy Grade Quality

You get what you pay for when it comes to buying solar lighting, well-designed solar lights will last longer and perform better than the less expensive products on the market.

Solar string lights manufactured by the toy industry have panel housings made from non-UV ASB plastic which is fine for toys, but will start to disintegrate after a few months of strong sunlight.  These companies also use only an epoxy coating over their solar panel which will yellow after a few months, preventing the solar panels from making use of the solar power.

The panel housings on professional grade solar string lights are made from high-impact UV resistant glass-filled nylon material which will last for many years outdoors in bright sunlight.  Tempered glass, which does not yellow,  is used to protect the solar panel.

Toy grade solar string lights are not waterproof and rain will damage or destroy the product.  On the professional grade solar string lights the solar panel is fully gasketed and waterproof, the on/off switch is waterproof, the multi-function switch is waterproof, and the LEDs on the string light are waterproof.

When it comes to whose lights are brighter and stay lit longer the professional grade solar string lights win again with lights that are 4-5 times brighter than the competition and solar panels that charge in full sun for 8 hours to get 16 hours of steady light or 30 hours of flashing light.  These lights also have a patented electronic circuit that automatically steps down the brightness output 20% in the event of prolonged cloudy weather to preserve battery power.

Toy grade solar string lights have dimmer lights which get dimmer after an hour or so.  It takes over 20 hours to charge the batteries completely, and even fully charged they won’t stay on as long.  There is no solution to cloudy weather, cloudy weather means no light output.

The battery capacity and solar panel efficiency of professional grade solar string lights is also better than that found in toy grade lights.  Professional grade lights use 3x 1400mAh 3.6V professional grade rechargeable batteries, 4200mAh total.  Battery temperature range is from zero F to 120F with 75% efficiency at either end of this range.  The solar pane is 1.3 peak watts.

Toy grade lights use toy-quality 2x 2000mAh 2.4V batteries.  Battery temperature range is from 32F-120F and will not work below freezing.  Some manufacturers use Ni-Cad batteries containing cadmium, and environmental poison banned in many countries.  Their solar panel is only 0.4 peak watt (which means it will take 3 times longer to charge their batteries).

If you have any doubts as to which solar string lights to spend your money on then buy one string of each and see which ones work best for you.

Professional Grade Solar Christmas String LED Lights
Inexpensive Solar Powered Christmas Lights (Be sure to read the customer reviews)