Solar Lantern String Lights

Most garden string lights are bare bulbs on a wire. These carry small fabric lantern shades, 6.5cm across, which changes the effect completely: instead of points of glare you get a row of soft glowing shapes, and the shades read as decoration in daylight rather than as dead wire strung between two posts.

Four lengths are offered. Ten lanterns run to about 3.5 metres and suit a doorway or a small balcony. Twenty and thirty cover a pergola or a fence run. Fifty lanterns stretch to roughly seven metres, enough to zigzag across a terrace. Choose warm white for a calm, even look, or the mixed colour version if the lights are going up for parties and summer evenings. Allow a little slack between fixing points rather than pulling the run tight, both so the lanterns hang straight and so the lead is not strained in cold weather.

The whole run is solar powered from a single panel, so there is no cable to a socket and nothing to switch on. They are rated IP44, which covers rain but not immersion, so keep the panel and the connector out of standing water. Solar output falls sharply in winter and in shade, so site the panel where it gets several hours of direct sun.

• 10, 20, 30 or 50 lanterns; total length approximately 3.5m to 7m
• Fabric lantern shades 6.5cm across on a weatherproof lead
• Integrated LEDs, warm white 3000K or mixed colours; 50-250 lumens by length
• Solar powered; no mains connection required; IP44 rated
• Rain resistant but not for immersion; keep the panel and connector clear of standing water
• Output falls in shade and midwinter; site the panel in direct sun
• Certified to UL, FCC, RoHS, CE, VDE and SAA