Solar lighting IMO is a waste of money. Seek out a lighting store for an explanation of all the options available.

I have solar lights for just decoration in my garden. They really don't put out enough light to light up a pathway or steps. The secret to keeping the same lights is to change the rechargeable batteries when they start getting dimmer. I order mine off of amazon.

I wouldn’t waste the money. I’ve tried 3 different types and they give off very little light and they don’t last very long. I live in the desert so it certainly wasn’t from lack of sunlight

I would have said something similar (and did) as recently as a couple of years ago.

But now I'm not so sure. In 2017, I stayed at a hotel in Rincon, Puerto Rico for several nights. I changed my mind because of the solar lighting they used.

As you know now from the news last autumn, electricity in PR is something less than reliable. What you may not know that this unreliable power is also obscenely expensive. On an island drenched in sunshine, the electric utility mostly relies on shipped in fuel. Hello? Is anyone there looking up a the sky?

So this hotel did almost all of its accent and path lighting with solar powered lighting. They even lit up their main sign on the front of the building with solar lights.

I was surprised at how effective it was, much better than most that I've seen. They had plenty of luminous flux for the tasks, and long enough runtime that they lasted well into the wee hours before shutting down.

Regrettably I didn't get the name of their supplier. Maybe I can email them and ask.

As I see it, for dedicated solar lighting to be reliable and effective, it needs a high-efficacy LED light source; a high-capacity, long-cycle-life, replaceable battery; plenty of PV area to charge the battery; and smart circuitry to manage the charging and discharging. You don't get those features for $10 at the dollar store.

Now whether it gives you a return on investment, that's another question. I guess it depends on the unit's cost, battery replacement cost, what your electricity costs, and how you amortize wired light installation.

In some cases solar lights might be worth it just for the installation convenience, or to deny your electric utility a little revenue. I think some of our hotel's motivation may have been this second one. :)