5 Best Solar-Powered Lanterns

Why spend money on batteries or electricity when you can harness energy from the sun?

Solar-powered lanterns have changed how we light up our life. From cabin getaways to dispersed campsites, a solar lantern is the easiest and most environmentally-conscious way to bring brightness to a dark night.

Though we love traditional camping lanterns that are gas- or battery-powered, new solar-powered lanterns have replaced some of our old favorites. Because for as long as the sky isn’t covered in clouds, these portable solar lanterns can be used all night long around the campfire, then recharged with just a few hours of direct sunlight the next morning.

For this review, we will focus on portable solar-powered lanterns that are made for outdoor recreationists to take on the go. If you’re looking for solar lighting aimed at use around your stationary home, check out our favorite outdoor solar lights instead.

WHAT TO CONSIDER

Solar-powered lanterns range from small, collapsible, and affordable, all the way to large, bright, and capable of illuminating a small cabin. When buying a portable solar lantern for outdoor recreation use, pay attention to the brightness (lumens), charge time and runtime, and lighting modes, among other factors like the light type, waterproofing, and packability:

• Brightness (Lumens): Lanterns range from 100 lumens of light all the way up to 500 lumens (and even higher). The beauty of a solar lantern is that you can run it at full power one night and not have to worry about draining the battery early on in your camping trip, as long as you are blessed with daytime sunlight.
• Charge Time and Runtime: Solar lanterns contain internal batteries that charge in the sunlight for use when the sun goes down. The amount of time required for charging varies greatly, from 5 to 10 hours with direct sun. Runtime also varies greatly and will depend directly on what level you run the lantern. Runtime is almost always stated based on operation on the lowest setting.
• Lighting Modes: Simple lanterns have two modes: on and off. More advanced options will have options for dimming, and some even have color choices.

It’s pretty amazing that solar technology has reached such small, portable devices. And for as long as the sun’s energy is free, we’ll have a few solar lanterns at the campsite, a few in the backyard, and one on the ready for when the grid crashes.

PROS	CONS
Lightweight	Not super bright
Collapsible	Takes 10 hours of direct sunlight to charge
Diffused light is easy on the eyes
USB-chargeable

We love this “As Seen on Shark Tank” lantern’s opaque lampshade, which provides the ideal amount of diffused light for camping and backpacking trips. It has an average of 4.7 stars from over 7,000 Amazon reviews because it is lightweight (just 5 ounces), inflatable, collapsible, waterproof (IP67), shatterproof, dustproof, and completely safe for children.

Keep this solar-powered lantern in your bug-out bag or emergency kit and you’ll always have light — even if the grid goes down. Charge it at home with a micro USB cord so it’s ready to go at a moment’s notice, then recharge it in the field (as long as the sun hasn’t imploded).

Key Specs

Brightness	75 lumens
Charge Time	10 hours
Runtime	Up to 24 hours
Lighting Modes	Low, medium, high, turbo, and flashing

PROS	CONS
Very lightweight	No USB port for quick charging
Collapses to just 1.5 inches thick
Battery level indicator prevents total darkness

Pull this lantern out of your pack when you get to camp, inflate it, and let it charge in the sun. Its built-in lithium-ion battery fully charges with just 7 hours of direct sunlight. The Luci 2.0 has 10 powerful cool white LED lights with a clear globe and delivers a powerful, bright light source, with a brightness of 75 lumens and four light modes (low, medium, super bright, and flashing).

When you’re done, simply collapse it down and stuff it back in your pack. This solar-powered lantern is waterproof, collapsible, durable enough to withstand 150 pounds of pressure, and weighs just 4.4 ounces, so you’ll barely even notice it’s there.

Key Specs

Brightness	75 lumens
Charge Time	10 hours
Runtime	Up to 24 hours
Lighting Modes	Low, medium, high, and flashing

PROS	CONS
Collapses to pocket-size	No dimmer dial
Long runtime	No strap or clip for hanging
Charges out like a power bank

You can’t play a game of hockey with this lantern, but it does collapse down to the size of a puck and stows easily into your backpack, tool kit, or even your pants pocket. We have one in our car and one in our bugout bag, just in case a severe weather event leaves us without power.

Simple and functional is this lantern’s motto. On the lowest setting, this little guy can provide up to 10 hours of light, which is plenty to get through a night of camping — as long as you’re not up until the wee hours of the morning sharing ghost stories and adult sodas.

It can be recharged via USB or with the sun’s rays, and also serves as a portable power bank to charge your phone overnight in the tent.

Key Specs

Brightness	Not stated
Charge Time	4 hours
Runtime	Up to 10 hours
Lighting Modes	Low, high, flashing

PROS	CONS
Lights up an entire house	Expensive when compared to the others in this list
Each light is individually controlled
Proven effective in over 100,000 homes in Kenya
Great option for power outages

If you’re looking for the simplest way to light up multiple rooms in a cabin, different nooks in your camper van, or just to be prepared for the next major power outage without the need to hardwire or run extension cords to an outlet, BioLite has your solution.

The Solar Home 620+ is a self-contained solar lighting kit in a box, including a 3,600 mAh battery, a 6-watt solar panel, an FM radio and MP3 player, a motion sensor, plus three hanging lights and three wall-mounted switches — one for the kitchen, one for the living room, and one for the bedroom.

Each light has an 18-foot cord and is daisy-chainable to maximize distance from the control unit. The 6-watt solar panel can fully charge the battery with just 6 hours of strong sun and connects to the control unit with a 21-foot cord, making it easy to find the just-right position for direct sunlight. And the integrated LCD panel helps you monitor system performance in real time.

The whole kit comes bundled up in a package the size of a shoebox for easy portability to and from your next adventure. What more could you ask for?

Key Specs

Brightness	450 lumens
Charge Time	6 hours
Runtime	Not stated
Lighting Modes	Each light is individually controlled via switch with low, medium, and high

PROS	CONS
Charge other devices with USB output	Solar panel is sold separately
Hangs from a tree or stands on a table
Multiple options for recharging

Light up the night — from the coastline to the campsite — with the biggest Lighthouse in Goal Zero’s lineup. This baby pumps out 600 lumens of light, which is enough to illuminate an entire campground, let alone your family’s campsite.

When this lantern runs out of power, it can be recharged in three ways — via USB cord, by attaching it to a solar panel, or with the built-in hand crank that gives you 1 hour of power for every 1 minute of cranking. It’s infinitely adjustable with a small dial, water-resistant in case you leave it out in a drizzle, and durable enough to handle bumps and drops for years to come.

Key Specs

Brightness	600 lumens
Charge Time	6 hours
Runtime	Up to 300 hours
Lighting Modes	LFully adjustable with a dial