I saw this at Costco today, a solar powered lamppost. It’s interesting, but to me nothing more than a curiosity. For one it only outputs “up to 130 lumens”. That is not a lot of light. A 40W incandescent puts out about 800 lumen as a comparison. I suppose this light could be modded with a bigger solar panel, bigger storage battery, and more LED’s. But if I were to go that route, I would start fresh with another ordinary lamppost, so why bother with this.
These are not made to see by, but rather to be seen 
The price does not show up in the pics, they are $100
I wonder if they will sell?
I had some solar lights, they were rubbish. Panels & batteries were too small & too cheap. After 12 months they would illuminate for just 1 hour after 8 hours of sunlight.
This one only has a 2.8W collector panel.
Typically the panels never reach their claimed capacity, due to the angle of sun, dust, clouds, age, etc…
The rule of thumb is x4. So a 2.8W panel would produce around 11Wh per day, when in good condition with optimal tilt. Which won’t be the case here. So lets say 8Wh generated per day. Then assume 25% loss in the batteries, electronics & diffuser. Which leaves 6Wh for 12 hours. So the LEDs must either be less than 0.5W, or they are exaggerating the specifications. A 0.5W LED isn’t going to produce anything even close to 130lm.
I don’t think anybody has ever had any success with solar lights, myself included.
Yeah, this lamppost is probably a big waste of money… In order to do it right, we probably would have to start off with one of those 45W solar panels from Harbor Freight and a larger 12V backup battery. Then more or larger LED’s etc. It would require a substantial effort, not something I am willing to attempt at THIS time. Maybe later I will catch the bug.
BTW, In order to set up a large 45W solar panel, it would have to be out in the open to catch the light. In most installations it would be unsightly to those who “just don’t get it” 
I was in Costco again the other day and this light was nowhere in sight. Either it was very popular and sold through, or there were lots of returns and they were pulled. I’m guessing the later.
By placing your 130LM solar lamp where it can receive direct sunlight for about 5-8 hours, the in-built cells will be able to power-up an 850mAh rechargeable battery based in lithium technology within that time range. It is small in size and also light in weight making it easy to carry. When it’s then fully charged, the solar battery is able to power the light bulb for up to 5 hours without interruption.
Please notice that the two people who made up the original post are long gone from the site and it dates from 2014. The OP hasn’t logged in for 19 months and the other for 4 years and 8 months. It is pretty unlikely that anyone who bought the product from Costco in 2014 is still using them.
We have come a long way since 2014. The quality has gone up and prices have come down. I have 3 wall-mounted, solar proximity lights that cost me $8 each and are quite suitable for lighting up the area around doors so I can see to unlock them. If I had bought the $100 Costco lights in 2014 I would have long ago thrown them out or converted them to low-voltage LEDs with in-ground wiring and given up on the idea of solar.