A portable solar powered illumination system has a housing adapted for transport using at least one pair of wheels coupled to an axle assembly. The housing has a rear facing wall that extends at a selected non-orthogonal angle with respect to a base of the housing. The rear facing wall supports a tri-fold solar panel assembly with first, second and third solar panels. The first solar panel is affixed to the rear facing side wall, and the second and third solar panels hingedly fold onto and away from the first solar panel between retracted and deployed positions. Energy collected by the solar panel assembly is stored by an energy storage device during the day and used by a light assembly for illumination at night. An elevation adjustment device establishes a rotational angle of the housing to maintain the deployed solar panels at a desired angle.