The best deck and step lights

Deck lighting is usually sold as atmosphere, and most of an outdoor scheme is exactly that. Steps are the exception. On a set of deck stairs, the job is the same one as indoor stairs: define the edge of each tread so nobody misses it.

Your eye judges a step from the contrast at its edge. Light that lands on the flat of the tread and leaves the riser below in shadow draws that edge clearly. That is why step lights go on the riser or the stringer, aimed across the step - the same principle set out for indoor stairs in stair and landing lighting.

And it is why the useful brightness is modest. You are not lighting a deck; you are drawing a line at the front of each step.

AUDLES solar step lights - the pick. 80 lumens per fixture, IP67, and reported in a tested roundup as both the brightest step light there and bright through a full 9-hour night. Eighty lumens sits at the top of the useful range for step lighting, and all-night runtime is what makes a step light a safety feature rather than an evening decoration.
Cons: no Kelvin or CRI published; screw mounting is a fixing into a deck you may not own; and winter charge will shorten the runtime.

VOLISUN solar step lights - for a known runtime. About 80 lumens from 13 LEDs, IP67, and one of the few that publishes the relationship between charge and runtime: up to 8 hours after a 5-hour charge.
Cons: 8 hours will not cover a long winter night; 800 mAh is a small battery; no Kelvin or CRI published.

TORCHSTAR motion lights - for steps used only occasionally. 320 lumens on motion for 15 seconds, IP65. Far brighter than a steady step light, because it only has to run for a moment - which also means the battery lasts.
Cons: dark until triggered, so the steps have no ambient glow; 15 seconds may be short on a long flight.

One per step, on the riser. A light on each riser, aimed across the tread above or below it, defines every edge. One light at the top of the flight lights that step and leaves the rest in the dark.

Keep the source out of your eyes. Going down a deck stair at night, you look at the treads ahead. A bright fixture in that line destroys your ability to read the edges. Riser-mounted lights aimed downward stay out of your eyeline.

IP67 on a deck. Step lights sit at foot level in rain, snow and standing water - IP67, which tolerates temporary immersion, is worth insisting on. See wet rated vs damp rated.

Give solar lights a clear sky. A step-light panel shaded by a railing, a planter or an overhang charges poorly and runs short. Siting explains more underperformance than product quality.

Mounting in a rental. Screwing lights into a deck is a fixing into somebody else's structure. Many step lights adhere or clamp instead - check before you drill.