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Solar or mains path light

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are looking at a spike in one hand and a trench in the other, and you want to know which job you actually have. A solar or mains path light is a power-source choice. Every listing kept here is solar: a panel, a cell, and a spike or screws. None brings a BS 1363 plug. Stay with the spike when the panel can see some sun and you can pull it up. A drive that must stay bright through a dull week is a wired scheme, and a new 230 V circuit is an electrician’s job. The [path light with motion sensor comparison](/hub/electronic-surveillance/path-light-with-motion-sensor) is the product table. This page is from Peter F., editor for DIY & tools.

You are looking at a spike in one hand and a trench in the other, and you want to know which job you actually have. A solar or mains path light is a power-source choice.

Our top picks

Fratink Fratink 2-pack, 650 lm

Best overall

Fratink Fratink 2-pack, 650 lm
7.5/10about £18.99
View offer
Linkind Linkind 2-pack, 650 lm

Rank 2

Linkind Linkind 2-pack, 650 lm
7.8/10about £27.98
View offer
Auraglow Auraglow AG765, 215 lm

Alternative

Auraglow Auraglow AG765, 215 lm
1.5/10about £19.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What this set is powered by
  2. 2.Planning permission
  3. 3.When the wiring rules start
  4. 4.Stay with a spike, or stop

What this set is powered by

Open any of the nine boxes and you get a solar kit. The Linkind 2-pack states 3.7 V and 2200 mAh. Auraglow AG765 states a replaceable 18650. The Linkind 3-pack’s bullets describe a solar panel and a 1500 mAh cell, even though the Amazon table says battery powered. There is no 13 A plug, and no flex to a consumer unit. A renter who cannot trench can still pull the spike up. A week of Midlands cloud can leave the path dark. The checks once you are staying solar are in the buying guide.

Planning permission

Planning Portal’s note on lighting says minor light fittings are not a planning-permission job. A sealed solar stake sits in that ordinary class for a typical house. You still keep the beam out of other houses’ windows, and you set the PIR so traffic outside your boundary does not trip it. GOV.UK’s guidance for England tells councils to investigate light that may be a statutory nuisance. There is no lux number. Where the head points on a drive is the driveway page.
Fratink Fratink 2-pack, 650 lm

Testsieger

Fratink Fratink 2-pack, 650 lm
7.5/10about £18.99
View offer

When the wiring rules start

Approved Document P (2013) brings fixed garden lighting into the building regulations for England. Notifiable work in that document is a new circuit, a replacement consumer unit, or work in a special location. A loose solar stake is not a new circuit. Ask your building-control team before you trench. Electrical Safety First points mains outdoor lighting at a registered electrician and at BS 7671. This PDF is the England document. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own building rules. Fitting the stake is the install guide.

Stay with a spike, or stop

Stay with a spike if the panel can see sun, you can lift it, and the job is a keyhole, a dog, or the edge of a border. Motion-only or dim-plus-boost marks that walk. The saved prices, from £16.99 to £49.99, are the solar shelf, not a quote for a trench. Stop when the drive must stay bright on a cloudy week, or when the path never sees the sun. That is a wired scheme. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Common questions

Does a solar stake need planning permission?
Minor domestic light fittings are not planning permission on the Planning Portal’s lighting note. A solar stake you can pull up is that kind of fitting on an ordinary house. You still avoid other people’s windows, and you keep the PIR off the public pavement. A listed building is the case where you ask the local planning authority first. Permission and a neighbour’s nuisance complaint are different questions.
Does a solar stake need Part P notification?
A sealed solar stake is not a new circuit and it is not connected to the dwelling’s installation. Approved Document P (2013) still cares about fixed garden lighting that is part of that installation. The stake in this set is not that installation. If you later feed a path from a new cable, you have changed the job. The 2013 PDF used here is the England document.
When is a new garden circuit notifiable?
In Approved Document P (2013), notifiable work includes a new circuit and a replacement consumer unit. Fixed lighting in the garden has to be safe either way. A new 230 V circuit for path lights is electrician work under BS 7671, which is the line Electrical Safety First takes for mains outdoor lighting. Digging where you cannot see cables is the hazard they flag. This page does not treat that circuit as a DIY weekend.
Why do some council pages still say garden lighting is notifiable?
Bath and North East Somerset, Richmond, and Cumberland still describe garden lighting in the older special-location or notifiable wording. Approved Document P (2013) limits the special-location box to baths, showers, pools, and saunas, and lists a new circuit separately. The council pages are out of step with that PDF. Ask the building-control team where you live before you open a trench. Their answer is the one that applies to your house.
Who should stay with a spike?
Stay with a spike if you rent and cannot trench, if a keyhole or a dog is the job, and if the panel can see the sun for part of the day. You can lift the fitting when you leave. Motion-only or a dim boost suits that walk better than an all-night mode. A shaded north eave is a weak version of the same choice, because the night will be short.
Who should not buy this set as the only light?
Anyone who needs a drive to stay bright through a cloudy week. That requirement is a wired scheme, not a solar stake from this comparison. The same applies if the path never gets sun, or if you already know you want a new circuit. The nine listings are solar heads. They are not a 230 V design.
What about a listed building?
Ask the local planning authority before you fix lights or run wiring on a listed building. West Northamptonshire includes external lighting and wiring among works that can need listed-building consent. Other authorities word their lists differently. A solar spike in a lawn may still be minor, and the consent question is theirs to answer. Do not use an ordinary-house rule as a listed-building rule.

Related pages

Best path light with motion sensor

Path light with motion sensor

Path light with motion sensor: what to check first

Path light with motion sensor for the driveway edge

How to install a solar path light with motion sensor

Sources

Public UK sources from the digest first, then the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Prices and stars are from the pages saved for this category, not a live check on 21 October 2026.

  1. Planning Portal, lighting (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. GOV.UK, artificial light nuisances (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. Approved Document P (2013) (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. Electrical Safety First, outdoor lighting (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. Lightwave UK, IP ratings (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK, batteries and electrical waste (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. BBC Gardeners’ World, best solar lights 2026 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings for the nine ASINs in this set (retrieved 21 October 2026)