Solar vs Plug-In Christmas Lights: Cost, Brightness and Run Time

Choose plug-in LED lights for large displays, rooflines and lights that must stay bright all night, since they cost only cents per season to run. Choose solar lights for spots far from an outlet, such as distant trees, fences and paths, where the main benefit is no cords rather than lower bills.

The common belief is that solar lights save a lot of money. Against modern LED plug-in sets, the electricity saved is small. The real trade-offs are convenience, run time and how much sun your yard gets. For solar buying advice, see our guide to the best solar Christmas lights.

Solar vs plug-in Christmas lights compared

Factor	Solar LED lights	Plug-in LED lights
Power source	Panel and rechargeable battery	120 V outlet
Electricity cost per season	None	About $0.21 per 4.8 W set (6 h x 40 nights)
Run time	8 to 10 hours on a full charge is typical	As long as you leave them on
December performance	Depends on sun; often less than a full charge	Same every night
Longest run	1,200 LEDs per panel (Environmental Lights)	45 sets end to end (Wintergreen 70-LED set)
Wiring and outlets	None	Extension cords, GFCI outlet
Parts that wear out	Battery (300 cycles or 1 year for one maker’s pack)	Bulbs rated 100,000 hours (Wintergreen)

How much do plug-in Christmas lights cost to run?

The formula is simple: watts × hours ÷ 1,000 × price per kWh. We used the US average residential electricity price of 18.31 cents per kWh for July 2026, from the Energy Information Administration. We assumed 6 hours a night for 40 nights.

Setup	Watts	kWh per season	Cost per season
One 70-LED 5 mm mini set	4.8	1.15	$0.21
Ten 70-LED 5 mm mini sets	48	11.5	$2.11
One 100-count incandescent mini set	40	9.6	$1.76
Ten 100-count incandescent mini sets	400	96	$17.58

The LED wattage is Wintergreen Lighting’s spec for its 70-light 5 mm set. The incandescent figure is from Christmas Lights, Etc, which says a 100-count incandescent mini set runs at 40 watts. Your rate may be much higher or lower than the national average, so plug in your own number.

The Department of Energy made the same point with a different example. It found that lighting a 6-foot tree for 12 hours a day over 40 days cost $0.27 with LEDs and $10 with incandescent lights, and that LEDs use 70% less energy than incandescent strands. Those prices date from 2015.

The takeaway: switching from incandescent to LED saves real money. Switching from LED plug-in to solar saves pennies per set.

A worked example for a typical mixed display

Say you run six 70-LED plug-in sets along the porch and front windows. That is 28.8 watts. At 6 hours a night for 40 nights, it uses about 6.9 kWh, or roughly $1.27 at the national average rate. Replacing those six sets with solar would save that $1.27 a season. Solar earns its place on the spots you could never reach with a cord, like the mailbox or a tree at the back of the yard.

Brightness and run time

This is where plug-in lights win. A plug-in set gets steady power for as many hours as you want. A solar set can only spend what its panel stored that day.

Solar makers usually rate run time for a full charge. Brightown lists 8 to 10 hours for its 33 ft fairy lights after 4 to 6 hours of charging. In December, charge is often partial. PVWatts data show a flat panel in New York collecting 1.60 peak sun hours a day in December, compared with 6.17 in June. Meanwhile, the U.S. Naval Observatory puts New York’s solstice night at about 14 h 45 min from sunset to sunrise. Our guide to how long solar Christmas lights stay on has the details.

The solar and plug-in spec sheets we reviewed did not list lumens, so there is no fair brightness number to compare. Judge by LED count, spacing and bulb size.

Safety and setup

The CPSC advises using lights tested by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as UL or ETL, checking labels for outdoor certification, and plugging outdoor lights only into GFCI-protected outlets. It also advises checking every set for broken sockets, frayed wires and loose connections, and turning holiday lights off when you go to bed or leave the house.

Solar sets remove the outlet and extension cord from the picture. They still contain a battery, so follow the maker’s manual for charging and replacement.

Lifespan and upkeep

Plug-in LED sets have few parts that wear out. Wintergreen rates the bulbs on its 70-light set at 100,000 hours and offers a 3-year warranty.

Solar sets depend on a rechargeable battery. Environmental Lights rates its lithium-ion pack at 300 cycles or 1 year and its panel at 2 years. Energizer gives NiMH cells a typical life of 2 to 5 years. Budget for a battery swap every few seasons.

Solar Christmas lights for spots without an outlet

Browse current solar Christmas lights on eBay, new condition only.

Shop solar Christmas lights→

• Warm white
• Multicolor
• 100+ LEDs
• With remote

Opens eBay in a new tab. Check condition, seller feedback and returns on the listing.

Which should you choose?

Pick plug-in LED lights if:

• You are lighting a roofline, a large tree or a whole house front.
• You want lights on at full brightness until a set time every night.
• Your yard gets little direct winter sun. See do solar Christmas lights work in winter for data by city.

Pick solar lights if:

• The spot is far from an outlet: a back fence, a mailbox, a tree at the end of the drive, a pathway.
• You rent or live in an apartment and cannot run cords. See solar Christmas lights for balconies.
• The spot gets several hours of midday sun in December.

Many homes do best with both: plug-in on the house, solar at the edges. For color matching between the two, see warm white vs multicolor solar lights. For the other trade-offs, such as battery wear and cloudy weeks, see are solar Christmas lights worth it, and to compare makers, see solar Christmas light brands compared.