Link: http://HarborFreightReviews.com/HFRreviews.html

Item: Solar Shed Light
Item number: 95573
Retail price: $29.99
Frequent sale price: $19.99
Best price: $17.99 (with coupon)
Target price: $19.99
Item Link

This is another one of Harbor Freight's solar products that looks well designed but fails in implementation. We were initially very excited about this solar-powered fluorescent light. The solar panel is separate from the lighting fixture and attached by a 10 ft cord which helps optimize positioning of the solar panel. The mounting is pretty easy unlike their solar-powered quartz security light that was a challenge. The bracket holding the solar-panel is well thought-out, designed to attach easily to a vertical structure while providing flexibility in positioning the solar panel. The specifications claim it will run around 50 minutes on fully charged batteries which would make it suitable for some RV applications (e.g., bathroom light for nighttime relief ).

If you're using this to light a dark area during the daytime such as a shed interior, the 4-watt fluorescent light is woefully inadequate; the contrast between the daylight and the dimly lit interior will leave you in the dark for the first 30 seconds to a minute after you enter the darker area. If on-the-other-hand you are using this for nighttime illumination, the small fluorescent light is sufficient to find your way about and put up your evening tools. There are probably numerous other applications besides 'shed' lighting; the solar-powered light could be very useful in the RV as well -- it provides just the right amount of low-level illumination many RVers are use to when enjoying their evening coffee or a nightcap.

Now comes the problem: it doesn't work. Our test unit failed within the first year. After surviving our Buffalo Winter Test (the lighting unit was located inside an unheated storage area, the solar panel on the roof), it failed during the spring. We never really tested how long the light illuminated even when it was working properly. Our application required short cycles of only a few minutes with each use. It seemed to work well until one night, nothing.

Good luck if you decide to purchase this item. We have yet to disassemble the unit and determine the cause of the failure. Perhaps it's only substandard batteries in the original light; perhaps it's another water leak such as that which plagued Harbor Freight's solar-powered quartz security light. We'll revise our evaluation if we determine it's simply the batteries, but other reviewers have reported similarly failed units suggesting the problem is more serious.

Bottom line: Nice idea, poorly implemented. Harbor Freight strikes out again with this inferior solar product. Our recommendation is to leave this in the store.

Link: http://HarborFreightReviews.com/HFRreviews.html

Item: Motion-Activated, Solar-Powered, Quartz Security Light
Item number: 93661
Retail price: $49.99
Frequent sale price: $34.99
Best price: $29.99
Target price: purchase not recommended
Item Link

This item takes us into new territory at Harbor Freight Reviews: we are advising against purchasing this product. Yes, in the past we have concluded that some other items were bad buys and we added them to our list of The Junk. But this item comes with a stronger "do not purchase" advisory. Other items on The Junk list are poorly constructed, but they may have limited usefulness for some people. This product sets precedence in that it fails in its only possible application and therefore merits a special "do not buy" rating.

We were initially very pleased with this item; well, very pleased after we suffered through the poor design that makes installation a real headache. The primary mounting bracket must be removed to install the light to the building or other support and the placement of the mounting bracket back onto the main lamp body is very difficult, requiring very agile (and small) fingers. They must have had munchkins assembling this light in the factory. Other online reviewers have pretty uniformly complained about this as well. Once mounted, the light is secure and easy enough to position for our application, although some people have complained about this as well.

The performance through the first half of our Buffalo Winter Test was excellent. The solar cell charged the battery pack adequately to give us 20 to 40 30-second bursts of light each time it detected motion. The quartz lamp provided amble illumination which was relatively bright by solar standards (we generally don't expect solar-powered lights to produce the illumination level of other lights; by their nature solar-powered lights are usually low power so that they can be adequately charged by correspondingly small solar panels). On a busy night preceded by an overcast day, the solar light would run out of power before the night was over. On less busy nights preceded by bright days, the solar light would perform well throughout the night and into the morning hours. (We thank Sasha with her frequent trips outside throughout the night for her assistance in conducting these tests.)

The light's electronic controls are well designed. Its has controls for motion sensitivity, light duration, and ambient-light levels determining whether the light will activate (no point in having it flash on during the daytime). The fatal flaws come in its housing design and its manufacture. The light appears to leak water into the battery housing and/or electronic control circuit and the unit fails within a year or two.

We have tested two of these lights purchased about 6 months apart. One outside light failed within the first year; it had severe corrosion at the jack which connects the solar panel to the main light body. The second light failed after remaining inside for about 1 1/2 years! We have not yet determined the cause of this failure, but the second light was not even subjected to outside moisture or temperature extremes.

Harbor Freight's track record with solar products is dismal in our evaluations. We have tested 7 of their solar products to date and have posted reviews for several of them. Out of the 7 products tested, 5 failed within two or three years' use and some failed within the first year. One out of the two products that has performed well so far (i.e., Harbor Freight's 45-watt solar panels) is still being evaluated and we are awaiting the outcome of our first Buffalo Winter Test. Too bad there are so many problems with these solar products because several of them appear solid in their design and features, and Harbor Freight's sale prices have been great.

We will disassemble and attempt to correct the problems with these lights. After we've determined the cause of the failures and have assessed whether simple user modifications can render them operational, we will revise this review. Meanwhile, we have a strong advisory against purchasing this item for any use, including interior use. Indeed, this advisory is stronger than what we have issued for ANY product to date inasmuch as this item suffers catastrophic failure that renders it useless for any application.

The items that make our list of The Junk often have limited usefulness but are still suitable for some applications. For example, their 36" pickup and reach tool does not stand up well to regular use meeting my handicapped wife's needs but remains useful for my occasional use picking-up litter in the yard. So although it made our list of The Junk, one of the three test items remains in service for very limited use (fortunately, we don't have much litter in our yard, and I'm very patient with the tool's unresponsive, sticky mechanism). In contrast, this solar-powered security light seems to self-destruct leaving it simply trash.

Bottom line: Expect to replace this unit after about a year of outside use and expect to have difficulty with its installation if you decide to purchase it. We recommend that you leave this product in the store despite its attractive appearance and low sale price.