Solar is the answer for the wall you cannot get a cable to: the far side of the garage, the fence, the shed, the back gate. The panel charges in daylight and the light comes on after dark, and there is no electrician in the story.

What a solar wall light does

It takes an exterior from dark to lit without a trench or a running cost. The panel collects sunlight through the day, the light comes on at dusk, and the same design is available wired for the walls that do have a cable, so a facade can mix the two without looking mixed. Dawn, Ember, and Haven are black sconces you can order solar or hardwired, and the solar version dims from a remote. Haylen Solar is the strip light, from 30 to 240 cm in eight lengths, and switches between warm and cool white.

How to choose the right size

Size to the door or the wall panel it sits on: a single sconce at about a third of the door's height, a pair at about a quarter each, and a Haylen strip at about half the width of the wall it runs along. Mount a sconce at 66 to 72 inches from the ground and repeat every 8 to 10 feet along a longer wall. The panel is the real constraint: give it about six hours of direct sunlight a day, clear of eaves and tree shade, and expect a full charge to give 6 to 12 hours of run time, less through winter.

Styles and rooms across the range

Dawn, Ember, and Haven suit a front door, a garage, or a garden wall, and sit with the wired versions on the outdoor sconces page. Haylen Solar suits a long fence, a pool wall, or the side of an outbuilding, and its wired siblings live in the LED strip wall lights. For the pathway and lantern side of solar, the solar pathway lights page completes the set.

All four charge from the sun and run warm white. Dawn, Ember, and Haven also come hardwired, and every one is black. Check the sun on the wall before the wiring.