solar lighting for the garden?

last summer we had a set of solar lights you push into the ground in the garden they were lovely very atmospheric then as the winter drew in they seem to lose some of their power obviously due to lower light levels in the day until they went off completely so we brought new rechargable batteries for them charged them first then put them in some worked some did not but even the ones that did still seemed very dim we have not had a bad bad winter in the uk so light levels have been fair i have now been out and replaced them with a whole new set of lights do they have a lifespan does anyone know because we had only had them under one year and cant believe they have to be replaced so soon

Public Comments

1. I've had mine for four years and during winter they obviously don't do as lot - but I've never had to replace batteries - they have just started to come on again at night and are lasting until the morning - you got some dodgy ones maybe
2. They need about 8 to 10 hours of fairly strong sun light to charge rechargeable batteries, we don't tend to get that amount on a regular basis in the UK in Winter. I store mine away over winter as its not worth it. You could just charge your rechargeables up in doors using a mains charger if you really want to use them all year round.
3. now the summer is coming ours are getting better. i saw a product recently which was a brick style solar light which can go into the ground. You can find more here http://naturecounts.com/eco-friendly-products-20.php
4. Try cleaning all the tops of the lights. If the solar cells are dirty they will not allow the batteries to charge. I have had a set of similar for four years without having to change anything.These are the older type with yellow LEDs.