Solar Lighted Christmas Trees for the Yard and Porch

A solar lighted Christmas tree is a tree-shaped decoration with its own small solar panel and battery, so it needs no outlet or cord. The main types are potted pre-lit firs for a porch and tree-shaped or fiber optic stakes for paths. They give a soft glow for several hours after dark and charge best in open, south-facing spots.

Types of solar lighted Christmas trees

Solar lighted Christmas trees come in three main forms, each suited to a different spot.

Check the power source on larger lit cone and spiral trees, since many plug in. Alpine’s 91-inch spiral tree, for example, turns on by plugging it in, with the power cord included.

This page covers trees that are decorations in their own right. To light a real tree or shrub in the yard with solar string lights, see solar Christmas tree lights for outdoor trees.

Potted solar Christmas trees for a porch

Potted solar Christmas trees give a porch or doorstep the look of a pair of lit trees without an extension cord. 1000Bulbs lists Vickerman’s 4-foot solar-powered potted fir with 100 warm white LED mini lights, 231 PVC tips and a 20-inch diameter, UL listed for indoor and outdoor locations and suggested as a pathway marker or porch decoration. A 3-foot solar-powered fir from the same maker carries 30 warm white LED mini lights.

The catch is the porch roof. A covered porch may never give the solar cell direct sun, so check where the cell sits and whether it can be moved toward the light. On an open step or a sunny path, a potted tree is the easiest way to frame a door.

Tree-shaped and fiber optic solar stakes

Tree-shaped and fiber optic solar stakes are smaller and simpler. Hemlock Hardware lists a 30-inch Alpine solar Christmas garden stake with a neon-like look, an on/off switch and up to 8 hours of light on a full charge; it ships as a tree, star or snowflake, and you cannot choose which. Do it Best has listed Alpine’s 40-inch fiber optic tree stake with moving LEDs, also rated for up to 8 hours on a full charge.

Stakes work best in groups. Three or five along a path, spaced evenly, read as a display from the sidewalk, while a single stake can get lost in a dark yard. Because each stake has its own panel, every one needs its own patch of sun.

How bright and how long they run

Solar lighted trees are softer than plug-in trees, and run time depends on the day’s charge. EnergySage reports that solar Christmas lights typically run 8 to 14 hours after a full charge, with shorter nights after cloudy days, and the stake ratings above sit at the low end of that range.

December is the hardest month. Short days and low sun mean a partial charge on many days, so plan for a glow in the evening rather than all night. Our solar vs plug-in Christmas lights comparison explains the brightness trade-off, and how long solar Christmas lights stay on covers run times in detail.

What to check before buying a solar Christmas tree

What to check before buying a solar Christmas tree comes down to five lines in the listing:

1. Height and width: a 3 or 4 ft potted tree frames a door; a 30 to 40 inch stake lines a path.
2. Outdoor rating: an IP number or “outdoor use” on both the lights and the panel. Our guide to waterproof solar Christmas lights explains the ratings.
3. Panel position: built in, or on a lead that can reach the sun.
4. Light color and modes: warm white, multicolor or color-changing, and whether it twinkles.
5. Battery: rechargeable and replaceable, since rechargeable cells wear out over time. See replacing solar light batteries.

Weigh down or stake potted trees on windy porches, since a light potted tree can tip over in a gust.

Where solar trees fit in a solar display

Solar trees fit between the big pieces and the paths. Pair potted trees at the door with a solar Christmas wreath and solar pathway lights along the walk, and add solar Christmas yard decorations such as reindeer or candy canes on the lawn. For every light type in one place, start at best solar Christmas lights.