What kind of light to put on a deck.

If you have a power outlet on the deck you can put up string lights for ambience. If not you will need electrician skills to put a hole in the wall for the light and wire it. You can google how to do wiring but I would have an electritcian do it; and I'd have a power outlet wired at the same time. My advice is not to place the light right next to the door if you live in an area where flying insects migrate and hoover around lights. They will have access into your house every time the door is opened, not to mention their invasion of your space if you want to sit out on the deck at night. String lights are better for sitting out to enjoy the evening. This link shows how to make posts for string lights.

Consider solar lighting. There are square path lights that can be mounted low on posts, spotlights that are for areas where utilitarian lighting is acceptable, strings of lights in a warm white color strung back and forth between the deck and the roof fascia, and rope lighting that can be installed under the railing. All are available as solar, or you can put in several well-placed outlets and use their electric counterparts. Maybe both kinds of power depending on need, brightness and length of use (Solar lighting usually lasts 6-8 hours after sundown if fully charged. An overcast day is not likely to provide a full charge).

I have also installed an overhead solar motion-detector light cause its nice to be aware when something like two-legged or 4-legged varmits are out there... https://www.lowes.com/pd/All-Pro-180-Degree-2-Head-Bronze-LED-Motion-Activated-Flood-Light-with-Timer/1000343135

if using solar lights? They can be a nice light source, but you need to make sure your solar panel is in a area where it gets hit with sun as much as possible! From my experience though, solar lights are only a short term light source and lights will not stay on for more than a few minutes at a time without the batteries draining dead. They do make better solar lights that have larger batteries or can be added to a larger solar panel system on larger batteries to run longer hours and/ or be charged with a generator! Depends what your looking for or how hard it will be to get 120volts to where you want your lights at?

Regardless what lights you decide to use? I still recommend sticking with LED lighting! The question becomes how bright do you want the area to be and how much area you wanted lighted? Myself, I like as much light as possible at night! I look for outside lights with at least 1800 Lums and preferably 2150-2200 Lums if not more! 2200 lums are about the same as two 150 watt bulbs at least, maybe more? Other thing to watch is the color of light the LED’s put out? I look for 3000k lights for the whitest light possible! So look at your light fixtures or bulb boxes closely to see what light you want? Usually they will give you a comparison from Lums to watts so you’ll have a idea of how bright they are? If you putting up motion sensor lights, I always look for motion sensors that will pick up motion at least 180 degrees if not more? Been my experience that what the box says the lights will do isn’t always what they say! So the wider the span the better! Same with the distance away from the sensor. Some will say they pick up motion 100 ft while others may be less! Again read your info before buying! Good luck

How about solar lights? I love these for outdoor lighting.