I used to have a solar fountain in our old apartment. It really works well as long as you can provide full sun to the solar collectors, otherwise, even a small shadow of a leaf or branch can make it stop. My fountain also had a cord, so in case you want to run it at times when there is no sun, you can just plug it in. So do consider a location where it will get full sun and easy access to an outdoor outlet. It was good for awhile, hummingbirds and other critters enjoyed it especially on those hot summer days. I only get to use solar power during the mornings, as soon as the sun goes west the garden is in full shade so it needed to be plugged in.
Here is how it looked like before:
And a video to see in action:
http://youtu.be/XpcJoHittKc
When we moved to our present home, I tried to use it for awhile, but we do not get continuous full sun either
Plus the city trees litters a lot on it, such tiresome clean-up. So I have turned it into a succulent planter instead
I have since switched to a regular plug-in water feature that fits more appropriately to the size of our sideyard.
