I agree that lights do not help, and feel, from personal experience, that they probably hurt when it comes to racoons. As a little back ground, I grew up in the country, out in the back of beyond, and hunted a lot. My older brother 'coon hunts to this day and has raised pet coons, and coon dogs for decades, and is a retired Conservation Agent. I asked him once about the little red flashing lights that are sold as a deterrent to predators and he said that coons are so curious that anything like that would attract them more than repel them, ditto for yard lights etc.
Just my two cents