Check out northern tools for some solar light kits and also lowes and home depot. We recently installed a 12 volt battery operated gate opener called the mighty mule. It is run off of a 12 volt deep cycle battery and we installed a 5 watt solar battery charger to charge the battery. If you are thinking about buying individual parts like the solar panel, lights, and battery to build your own system make sure you have a blocking diode which is wired in between the solar panel and the battery. Some solar panels have a blocking diode already installed. If you don't use a blocking diode at night the battery will start to drain it's charge. A diode keeps the battery current going one way. dave

I try to reflect any "excess" light back onto the plants.

We are getting ready to refresh the patio. I want to look into getting a solar panel to power the items we have outside, such as lights, fountain and maybe a fridge. I know I need to know the needs first before I can look for a panel. But is this an easy thing to do? I live in So Cal, so sun is not a problem. In fact I think this is a no brainer for anyone living here! Thanks for your thoughts, Laura

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!