Customer Reviews

Concept SL-100 32-LED Solar-Powered Security Light with Motion Detector

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

We've had this light for about a month now and it is working wonderfully! It can be mounted as one piece or comes apart so the solar panel can be mounted for best exposure. In addition to a couple of shorter settings, this light has a 3 minute setting on it, but as long as you are moving within the range of the motion detector, it will stay on constantly. Compared to our other solar light, this one does a fantastic job of lighting the area we intended it for. We fully intend to get another of these lights very soon.

We've had various solar powered lights before, so didn't know if this one would really be any good. However, so far we are extremely pleased with it and plan to order more. It seems well-made and is attractive, and puts out a lot of light. It's also not overly-sensitive, but is sensitive enough to work perfectly. We really are very happy with this purchase and recommend it.

I purchased this unit because of the great reviews. I've been looking for a solar powered motion activated light with good flexibility of mounting and with enough light output to be effective. This one easily filled that requirement. I used it to light a dark area where our driveway meets the porch. I have a motion sensitive light on the porch but it only lights when you are actually on the porch. Now, when we drive into the driveway the new light comes on before I stop the car lighting the way to the porch - perfect!
Here are some pluses for this unit:
1. The solar panel is huge and can be remotely mounted using the 12ft cord for best collection of sunlight.
2. The battery is quite large and is easily replaceable.
3. Easy to install with only four screws on the unit and if you remotely mount the solar panel, another 4 screws there.
4. Good adjustability for the light and sensor.

Although the unit does not come with a sensitivity adjustment, the sensitivity seems to be set perfectly. No complaints there.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a similar application.

We have this dark/dead spot over our new back deck that screamed 'light me!' I was looking for something like this concept SL-100 for quite some time. Reviews I'd read about the whole solar-light thing didn't portend well. But then I came across this one. The price was right and guess what? It actually works!

Since going on our solar lighting kick, we have tried several solar security lights and this is the best of the lot. Works as advertised and in the month we have had it, it has been admirably dependable. The only complaint, and this applies to all solar security lights, is that it is not bright enough. In fact, this wasn't the brightest of the units we tried - the Maxsa 80 LED Solar-Power Motion-Activated Outdoor Light beat it, in my opinion (but still not as bright as I would have preferred), but I have not been able to make the motion detector work correctly on that light. One BIG drawback now is price, it has almost tripled on Amazon since I bought two of these Concept lights for around 50 dollars each. One other point, be aware that although the solar panel is indeed removable for remote placement, your options will be limited as to how to place it. Basically, you have to mount it flat with screws through each hole located on the four corners. Tighten it with more pressure on on corner and you risk cracking the solar panel.

As with all Solar Powered lights you have to manage your expectations. This as with all solar lights at the moment is'nt going to light up an area like halogen spotlights. As a rule the more LEDs in the light the better.
If you want this to scare off potential burglers then think again - even if you buy other mains powered lights - they don't put off determined burglars. Get yourself a burglar alarm.
If you live in town and have a lot of ambient light from street lamps or neighbours you will probably be wasting your time and money.
I bought this light as (1) I live in a rural area - no street lighting or near neighbours. (2) I can have problems with mains electricity. A storm a couple of months back damaged the electrical line feed some way from my property but it also damaged a mains powered outside PIR light.
So I thought I'd go with one of these to replace the damaged mains unit. I installed it near my garage with the solar panel fixed to the lamp unit as it is south facing.
PROs: Easy to install - make sure it is fixed to a flat surface.
The light is adequate for the area illuminated (where I have used it).
PIR sensor covers a good area.
The unit has survived a couple of long rain downpours.
CONs: Question mark over the construction of the plastic casing. The plaatic does not seem to be that flexible so be careful not to overtighten the fixing screws. On the light assembly itself the top two screw holes are near a moulding joint. So time will tell how robust the casing is.
Instructions - can be misleading. The box says the item can be mounted anywhere 'brackets and mountings included'. If you are looking for anything to mount the solar panel to a roof or wall there aren't any seperate brackets or mountings included with this product. It looks as if the solar panel could be attached to a bracket rather than screwed to the wall or roof. But you only get the four screws nothing more. The parts content on the instructions inside the box makes this clear.
In the wall mounting instructions it talks about '...place the spacers provided behind the unit' if the surface is uneven. No, there are no spacers included you have to use your own. I have contacted Concept Solar Lights about this so I await their reply.
Overall after two months the product has worked as designed.
I have purchased two more units with the light units being fitted to a north facing wall. The the solar panels are attached in one case to an east facing wall and the other to a west facing wall to catch a dawn/morning and dusk/afternoon sunlight. I live in southern area with lot of sunshine. At the moment the two new units are working well.
To recap if you need a solar light, live in a rural area, in area that gets a lot of sunshine then this is a good unit for you. Think again if you want to scare off burglars or live in an urban area or possibly at northern latitude where you get little sunlight during the winter.
It works for me in my situation - I'm shown as being in the UK, not so I'm further south than that!

****UPDATE**** It is now November 2011 and the three units are still working well. Regarding the question mark over the quality of the plastic casing - all the units have changed colour due to sun exposure from white to yellow.

I read a ton of reviews on these... and this one seemed pretty good. When it arrived, i was unimpressed with the product. The plastic is cheap and it only offers one position to mount the solar panel. the light and sensor only has a few positions it can beam too as well. More mounting flexibility would be great. Or providing a separate mounting base for the solar panel would be good. But that being said, it only gets an hour or two of direct sunlight per day and works just fine whenever i need it on my 15x20 foot deck.

***Update*** after a year of use, the light does not shine brightly anymore regardless of how much sun it gets, or how often it is used. It is dim. very dim. this thing is garbage. It seemed to get worse after our rainy season hit so it probably can not withstand the weather. i'm going to see if i can send it back.

I love this thing. We have two for the dark walkway next to our house. They are super-bright and very efficient. Lots of options from test (only on when someone's in front of it) to 5 minutes when tripped. The range of the sensor is great, but I'd have preferred a full 180 for our particular location. However, the sensor does work well, a full 120 degrees.

One note, the 12-foot extension cord wasn't enough to get our solar panel into full sun, so I spliced 60 feet of wire into the line manually, and voila! it works like a charm. Just make sure you use a relatively small wire (for low voltage) so you don't lose power over the length of the extension.

I recently purchased this Solar Security Light in hopes of avoiding pulling wire through my attic to install a new light on the the side of my house. Amazon shipped very fast and I installed in less than 10 minutes. Terrific quality and easy install. The light is bright white and luminates for a large area without being glaring. The motion sensor works well and can be directed toward a specific area to detect a specific walkpath. It's exactly what I wanted and, therefore bought a second unit for the other side of my house. I would recommend this light.

It was easy to mount and I like the long cord that comes with the solar panel. This allowed me to put the light in a spot that doesn' have a lot of sun and install the solar panel on the roof.

The light isn't very bright so don't expect it to scare off a prowler. It's like a 40 watt incandescent bulb, directed into a small area.

The battery is replaceable which is nice since some of these light manufacturers just expect you you to throw the unit out when the battery fails and buy a new light. The plastic construction doesn't seem like the unit is going to have a long life, but you never can tell.