5 Costco Solar Finds Worth Checking Out This Summer

With the hotter, brighter sunlight of the summer season comes a particular opportunity you can take advantage of: Easier use of solar-powered gadgets and accessories. If you're going to be spending time out in the sunshine, you might as well put that light to work for you, as there are all kinds of devices you can power with a solar panel. When it comes to ideas for interesting new solar-powered finds, try browsing Costco, in-person or online, for products like solar-powered lights, cameras, self-adjusting umbrellas, and even solar-powered water-purifiers for the pool.

Whether for security, decoration, or just making your back patio a little more comfortable, you can find a variety of gadgets equipped with solar panels at Costco, often in the retailer's usual bulk-buy bundles if you need multiples of a particular device. Some of these products are only available on the company's website, while others can be found at your local Costco warehouse.

Any proper patio or poolside needs at least one large umbrella to relax under and filter out the worst of the harsh summer sunlight. Costco has plenty of simple backyard umbrellas available, but it also has one with some distinct differences from the others: The Sunvilla Solar LED Market Umbrella, available for $179.99. This free-standing umbrella has a large, 10-foot canopy treated to resist fading and water damage. The handle in the stand has an auto-tilt function, which you can use to adjust the canopy's angle and rotate to account for the sun's movement throughout the day. 

Hidden within the top of the canopy is a small solar panel, passively soaking up the sunlight it's blocking. This energy is sent to a removable battery pack — that can also be charged with the included AC adapter — which, in turn, powers the umbrella's internal LED lights for illumination when the sun goes down. The canopy's default color is black-and-white stripes, though depending on your local warehouse's stock, it may be available in other colors including cream, blue, tan, gray, and red.

Owning a backyard swimming pool provides many opportunities for summer fun in the sun, but it's also a big responsibility, requiring regular upkeep and cleaning, not to mention purchasing and implementing chlorine. The Remington Solar Sun Shock Pool Purifier claims to be able to do for your pool what would normally require a full stack of chlorine tabs, and it's available from Costco's online storefront for $89.99.

This small floats on the surface of a pool up to 22,000 gallons in capacity, draws in sunlight from its top-mounted solar panel, and uses that sunlight to purify the water. It works by sending a low-wattage current to an attached copper-silver rod, distributing purifying ions from the metal into the water and keeping unpleasant elements like algae from taking root. It doesn't eliminate the need for chlorine entirely when it comes to sanitation, but this Remington Solar device is advertised to cut down chlorine consumption by about 80%. 

It's fun to take the summer season as an opportunity to redesign your home's outdoor decor, especially if you have friends or family coming and going outside more often. If you like to maintain a garden in your yard, for example, you can add a little personality to it with themed lighting. At Costco, you can find the Infinity X1 Glass Solar Mushroom Landscape Lights, available in a two-pack for $64.99.

These cute little lights consist of a three-unit daisy chain connected to a single solar panel unit, as solar lights do still need a battery. Both the lights and the solar unit have stakes on the bottom, so you can drive them into the ground, then arrange them as you like. The panel absorbs sunlight during the day, and when dusk falls, the lights turn on automatically, with each mushroom delivering a soft five lumens of illumination. Assuming the panel got a full day's worth of light, the mushrooms can stay illuminated for up to 10 hours on a full charge.

In addition to being decorative, solar-powered lighting can also serve practical purposes, like illuminating your way at night. Automatic lights are a fairly common fixture of suburban homes, but if you'd rather have such a setup without the wiring, you can find the Sol-R-Brite Fresh Source Solar Area Light at Costco for $49.99. This large lighting panel can be bolted to any solid surface or mounted to a pole. 

During the day, the solar panel on top stores electricity, and at night, the 120-degree motion sensor triggers the light's activation whenever someone passes by. This is useful for providing nighttime guidance when you come home late, and it can also be beneficial as a security measure. The light has three intensity settings of 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 lumens, so you can set your preferred level of brightness. This Sol-R-Brite device light is also weather-resistant, so even if you install it in the summer, you can leave it up year-round.

While you're setting up new decorations and gadgets outside for the summer season, it wouldn't be unreasonable to beef up your home security as well. Solar power can be useful here as it won't go offline in the event of a power outage. There are plenty of highly-rated outdoor security cameras on the market, but if you're looking to go the solar-powered route, the TP-Link Tapo 2k Smart Wire-Free Security Camera is available exclusively online from Costco in a three-pack for $159.99. 

These cameras are designed to be installed outdoors with no wiring necessary. Both the camera and its attached solar panel can be adjusted for an optimal viewing angle and to catch the most sunlight. Around 45 minutes of direct sunlight can fully charge the camera, and if the sun is obscured, a built-in battery pack allows it to continue operating for up to 180 days. 

The cameras can also be synced with smart home setups like Amazon Alexa and Google Home, allowing you to call up footage on connected devices like smartphones and smart TVs. All footage that the cameras record is stored locally on a microSD card, though cloud storage is also available for an additional fee.