My son got me some for a gift that are on the shepard's hook (which are metal, not plastic). I have had them in the ground for about 7 years. Where we use to live, we had very cold freezing winters and I never brought them in. Now we live in very rainy weather in the spring and warm in the summer, still leave them out year round. Have not changed the batteries yet either. They look old fashion, too. The newer ones he has bought me, with just the stakes with lantern on top (plastic), two have broken already. Hope this helps.

I am looking on the internet for a not too much expensive solar-powered light that I can place inside my pond in a pot. Would you also know where I can get a panel and a light separately? I need to install the panel on top of the roof because there is not enough sunlight coming to my patio. Thanks!

Hi chemocurl, thank you for the link. Why didn't I think of that? I checked some of those out and did find some commercial solar flood lights that would be great around the home and garden, although they are quite a bit more expensive, $300 compared to $80 for the domestic models. They are rated at being as bright as 100w to 150w, which is fantastic and way more than the domestic variety. I guess you get what you pay for!

Thanks for the suggestion, Randy. I just checked all of GFCI's in the house and none of them have been tripped and outlets connected to them have power.