Meadowline Maugersbury Solar Bollard with a Timer and Two Modes

Three, six or eight hours, or a low dusk to dawn glow. Being able to choose is what stops a solar fitting disappointing you in October.

Solar garden lighting has a reputation it mostly deserves, and the reason is almost always the cell rather than the light. A cheap solar light uses a 400mAh nickel metal hydride cell that is finished after eighteen months. Everything we sell uses a lithium iron phosphate cell of at least 2000mAh, rated for around two thousand charge cycles, and every one of them is user replaceable with a standard cell you can buy anywhere. The panel is monocrystalline rather than amorphous, which collects roughly twice as much on a grey day, and the controller holds a steady output until the cell is nearly flat instead of fading from the moment the sun goes down.

Specification

• Dimensions: 500mm tall, 90mm diameter, 250mm spike
• Materials: matt black body, polycarbonate diffuser, stainless spike
• Finish: Matt black
• Light source: integral LED
• Light output: 35 lumens
• Colour temperature: 2700K very warm white
• Beam angle: wide, about 140 degrees
• Power: solar, integral photovoltaic panel and rechargeable cell, no wiring
• Ingress protection: IP65, jet proof, suitable for open garden use
• Cable: none, wireless
• Warranty: 2 years
• Panel: monocrystalline, 410mA
• Cell: lithium iron phosphate, 3400mAh, replaceable
• Run time: 8 to 14 hours on a full summer charge
• Winter run time: about 3 to 5 hours in December
• Recommended spacing: 4 metres along a path
• Weight: approximately 2.0 kilograms

In the box

• 1 x solar bollard with a timer and two modes
• 1 x 250mm stainless ground spike
• 1 x wall or post mounting bracket
• 1 x replaceable lithium iron phosphate cell, already fitted
• A cleaning cloth for the panel
• A siting card explaining what six hours of direct sun actually means

Installation

No wiring at all. Push the spike into the ground or screw the bracket to the fence, slide the switch to on, and leave it somewhere that gets direct sun for at least six hours. That last part is what decides whether a solar light is any good or not, and it matters far more than the specification. Give it three full days of charging before you judge the run time, and clean the panel with a damp cloth twice a year because a film of pollen or algae will halve the output long before the cell wears out.

When to buy

Solar lighting works on the sun it received that day, so it is at its best between April and September and noticeably weaker in December. Buy it for the summer, expect less of it in winter, and if you want light on a January evening buy a 12V fitting instead. Nobody who sells solar will tell you that, and it is the single most useful thing to know about it.