Solar lights have become very popular for garden mood lighting. They are affordable and can be very pretty, charge themselves in the day and give off a glow at night, without having to be switched on or  off.

Now people are getting clever and converting them into sun jars, or in other words solar lanterns, that can be used in and around the home, for energy saving mood lighting, or in an emergency for back-up lighting.

Get into the habit of using solar lanterns at home and you need never be in the dark when a sudden blackout strikes. Using solar lights inside is a habit to be learned. They need to be charged up in the daytime, either on a sunny windowsill or outside. To have them ready for use at any time, you need to get into the habit of putting them out to charge every morning, but the rewards are well worth it: an endless source of light that costs nothing and isn’t dependent on the grid.

Of course one of these little solar lantern jars isn’t going to light up your whole home. For that you need something more like the  d.light S250 Solar LED Lantern . But having several solar jars in the home gives background light very easily, making it that much safer and friendlier in the dark of a blackout. Think of using them as nightlights, or using one for gentle night-time illumination in the bathroom, in corridors and halls and on the table at meals. They are so much safer and cleaner than candles and kerosene lamps, especially when you have children and pets.

Not yet available in the US, but hopefully soon to be either imported or copied!, are these appealing solar jars from Consol in South Africa – the equivalent of Mason canning jars. The lights are well made, stylish and work well.

Could be the start of a new mood in renewable energy!

Edited to add: Further Googling has turned up these solar light lids for Mason jars on etsy – so it is possible to recreate these already after all.