Customer Reviews

Aurora Glw Solar String Light Clear w/Amber LED

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I can't say enough good things about these lights. They're pricey, but it seems to be hard to find good looking solar string lights. They're hand blown glass, and absolutely gorgeous. There is a very generous amount of wire between the solar panel and the first light, so it's much easier to put them somewhere sunny for charging. They also come with hooks for hanging, which is a first that I've seen from any seller. These lights are heavier than the typical string light, due to the thick glass. They do glow for a long time at night. It's nearly 1am here and mine are going strong. The picture provided by the seller is very accurate to how they look at night. It's a beautiful electric blue, and it highlights the beautiful hand-made features of the glass. Perfect for mood lighting on your patio or in your garden.

I've had these lights for a few months now - I really love them. I have them in a tree and they look great at night. They come with hooks to hang the lights on with and a large solar panel to catch the rays for charging. I put the solar panel in a plant pot so it can be moved to catch the rays of the sun as the sunlight changes with the months. Very nice product!

Despite the one bad review on here, I decided to try these out because the exact same solar light got good reviews in the other colors. I wanted the soft, golden light.

So far I am very happy with the purchase. I have had the lights for one week, and they are beautiful and work well. I will update my review in a few months and let you know if they are still working, but so far I give them 5 stars.

I initially purchased a single set of these in purple back in 2008 as a last-minute Christmas present for my Grandmother who is incredibly difficult to shop for. When she opened her present, she was clearly delighted and I had been given the task to set it up by the pool. It has been about two years so I feel I can give this product an adequate review:

Pros:
- Beautiful glass globes; don't look cheap whatsoever
- Easy setup (took <5 minutes)
- Comes with little copper hooks which make them ideal to hang from tree branches or a fence.
- Durable (they have lived through a tropical storm, two rather cold winters and still keep going)
- Quick shipping even in the holiday rush.

Cons:
- Despite having six globes, they do not produce nearly as much light as I would have expected; the combined light they give off is probably about the same as an old-school flashlight that is low on batteries. I know these are powered by LEDs but they are much weaker than other LED products.
- Although the description says there is a solid 15 feet between the end of the string and the solar panel, I don't think that is quite accurate.

Summary:
This is a truly great gift and I am very tempted to go ahead and buy another set for my backyard. From experience, I know that the more sunlight the solar panel receives, the brighter the LEDs, so if you plan to put them far from the ground (such as hanging from a tree), be sure to be able to tie the solar panel to a spot that receives PLENTY of sunlight.

I love that these lights are solar powered - it seems like a very safe option for outdoor lighting and makes it easy to place the lights anywhere you desire. I attached the solar panel to the top of my corner fence post instead of staking it into the ground - seems like it gets lots of sun this way and keeps the electrical cord out of the way. The glass globes are beautiful and made of quite thick, crazed glass. My only disappointment was that the electrical cord/wire connecting the globes is white - for my use hanging them on a wooden fence or among foliage a brown or black cord would have been more subtle to conceal. I initially thought that the light from the "clear/white" variety was too blue-ish, although this seems to be typical of many solar LED lights - however after a about a week it looked much more white and I've decided to keep them. The clear version does provide a much brighter light than the "clear/amber" variety: that item was also clear glass, but lit up amber at night. I found the actual light produced by the amber version to be much dimmer and returned them.

Beware, this product does look great when it does work. The bulbs fill with water for one. Second, the solar charger does NOT charge batteries after a couple of weeks. I replaced the batteries thinking that was the problem, but the new rechargeable batteries don't receive a charge.

the color of the glass is beautiful.. they have been lighting with just a few hours of sunlight and when lit, they are dreamy.. so lovely.. maybe i will even get some more!

I've been on a solar lighting craze this year, buying a variety of lights to understand where the technology is and where it's best used.

The Aurora string of lights are very similar to small Christmas bulbs, they even have a loop at the top with a copper hook to hang off your tree, patio, cable or landscaping.

These lights are not very bright. They only provide enough light so that they glow. They could not be used to illuminate anything except to be used as a decoration or as a demarcation for a path. The led element is only about a 150 degree spread, meaning that the light is directional (if you look at the glass bulb from the top, you'll see very little light) and the direction is not directly down from the hook - so when they hang, the illumination direction sometimes faces away from you and if that happens the light appears to be hardly illuminated at all.

I've been testing the lights in southern California full sunshine for the past few weeks, so the solar receptor receives at least 8 hours of full and intense sunlight each day.

I would make the following suggestions to the manufacturer: 1. Increase the capacity of the solar panel, battery and output of the led to make the lights brighter. 2. Adjust the capacitor to allow the led's to shine brighter but for a shorter period of time (the current lights will still be dimly lit at dawn) - who needs lighting at 4:00am? 3. Change the packaging to be foam or cardboard. The current molded plastic packaging is a terrible shock absorber and one of our lights arrived broken because the plastic packaging is inadequate.

Overall, if you need a decorative light for landscape or string a cable overhead for a party, these add a nice element of glow but if you expect a light for illumination, look elsewhere.

These lights are lovely and very well made. If you are looking for bright lights, these are not for you. If you are looking for a warm ambient glow at night, and a beautiful glass accent during the day, then these are perfect.

I had my husband hang two strings of these lights. They looked beautiful for a month. Now I only have one set that works.