Malibu Solar Accent Lighting Installation and Application

Malibu Solar Lighting Installation

Each light comes with quite a bit of cable - 20 feet to be exact - so you can move the lights with some freedom. I didn't need all that cable so I just rolled it up and tried to deal with it as best I could. In this picture, you can see that I've installed the two of the lights at the top of the shed and the third light is on the right corner hanging under the eave.

I first noticed this solar lighting kit at a friend's house. He used it to illuminate an entry door where he did not have an outdoor light. After recently repainting and refurbishing a utility shed, I decided that I wanted to provide a little lighting around it. On my friend's recommendation (his lighting kit seemed to work fine for a number of years), I purchased the Malibu Solar Accent Lighting kit for $29 from Amazon.com.

Installation was fairly straightforward although the included instructions were not very helpful. The kit comes with stakes for a ground installation or fasteners for installing on a wall or roof. I elected to go with the wall-mounted installation and used the included fasteners. I figured that I could install the fasteners without pre-drilling the holes but later ended up pulling out the drill. Once you have the fasteners in place, you just slide the individual lights over the fasteners. From there, I installed the solar collecting panel.

Malibu Solar Lighting Installation

Here's a closer shot of the two lights and the solar panel at the top of the shed. They don't put off an enormous amount of light but they give you enough light so that you can see. I ended up using a staple gun to track the wire along the shed so that it wasn't hanging all over the place. Just adjust your staple gun so that it doesn't drive the staples all the way into the wood. Amazon's site says that they last up to 10 hours on a full charge. The box indicates 8 hours. I've gotten at least 5 hours out of them but haven't been able to check at 3-4 am to see if they are still on.

Malibu Solar Lighting Installation

Here's a close-up of the third light under the eave/soffit. My original plan was to install one light inside the shed. I may end up buying another set of three and installing one or two of them inside the shed. Another idea was to start replacing some of my floodlights with these puppies and reduce the old electric bill with some free solar powered lovin'. I'll post a shot or two of the Malibu Solar Lights in action so you can get an idea of their brightness.