My experience has been that the solar floodlights are the way to go. Specifically talking about the brand sold at chinamart. They have a larger solar pad than the walkway style solar lights. They are brighter, and hold a charge all night if they can get 4-5 hrs. of sun. And they will even get a little charge on overcast days. The walkway style lights seem to need about an hr. of sun to get an hr. of run time. I have several of both types and they are all still working going into the second year of having them. I think the batteries are pretty amazing ,considering they have to withstand the elements year round.