I love solar lights. There’s just something awesome about the idea of the virtually endless power supply that is the sun. I love being able to leave a light charging for free all day, and if it’s any good, shining all night. There are solar lights like the cheap, bundled hardware store specials that you stick in the ground and have to replace every year or two. Then there are a whole different class of solar lights like the Mod Lighting Skye and Beam. I had the pleasure of trying out the Skye and Beam lights for the last few weeks. I’m quite impressed. These are not your cheap hardware store specials. These are serious lighting options for your yard, porch or patio.
Mod Lighting – Meet the Skye and Beam
The Skye comes in three sizes. I tried out the medium sized version, which has a modern disk-shaped style. It’s about 11” in diameter by 6” tall including the metal base. The Beam is a more upright and classic style of light surrounded by a wicker type basket / stand. It also comes in three sizes. Both styles are pleasing to look at, though you may prefer one or the other depending on your personal taste. It only takes a glance to tell that both are also made of high-quality materials like the metal base on the Skye.
The Beam stayed mainly in the garden to provide some ambiance there. It has a built in handle for hanging, but I find it creates the best setting resting on the ground. My garden looks and feels magical with this incredible light adorning it in the night. Skye felt like it could be used as either a ground or table light. I used it in both scenarios and found it equally handy in either capacity. Both lights come with a remote control that allows you to turn the lights on and off, set the brightness to various levels, and to set a timer for how long the light stays on.
These are pretty handy features and something I’ve never had with any other solar lights. I like that both lights have large solar panels. This is a good thing since both can be set to pretty bright levels. I’m assuming the lights have fairly high-capacity batteries. I actually tried leaving the Skye on my screen porch where it only got partial sun during the day and the large solar panel still did a good job of charging it for at least a couple of hours of nighttime use. Both lights seem very durable and capable of standing up to outdoor weather as well.
Are Mod Lighting’s Skye and Beam perfect?
If I were to change anything about the lights, I would include the coin style batteries for the remotes. Mine didn’t come with the batteries. Also, the metal base of the Skye had sharper edges that might scratch a tabletop. That was easily remedied with little felt pads I keep around the house for furniture legs on hardwood surfaces. These are minor items, far outweighed by the usefulness of the Skye and Beam lights. The lights have an inherent quality in both the lighting they provide and the classiness of their look and quality of their build. These are the nicest looking and best performing solar lights I have ever seen or used, by a long shot.
Speaking of the quality of light, the versions I tried were the warm white / 3000 Kelvin versions. I definitely prefer this color temperature over the harsher white of some lights, though I believe the Beam light can also be purchased in a cool white / 6000 Kelvin version. I personally loved the color temperature of the versions I tried. It made both my upstairs and downstairs screen porch areas feel cozy and inviting.
Best Solar Lights
My favorite setting for the Skye was to have it on my downstairs porch on the glass coffee table accompanying my dark wicker furniture and fire table. It matched so well and added the perfect ambience to the room. Alongside the fire table it gave the perfect amount of light, but still maintained a softness that made the whole room feel relaxing.
My family and I sat on the porch for hours enjoying the mood and each other’s company. If you want high-quality solar lights to enhance your porch, patio, pool, or garden space, I highly recommend the Skye and Beam options from Mod Lighting. Mod Lighting makes products that are surprisingly fun to test and discover. The quality is the best of the best.
