Comments on: Repurpose a Solar Garden Light

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:26:12 +0000

I am working on taking a bunch of these to make a larger solar panel. I will glue them onto a large board. They put out 3 volts unloaded. Use 6 of them to get the needed 18 volts to charge a 12 volt battery. Use multiple boards to get more current. They only cost $3 right now in most stores. Cheaper than buying a solar panel.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:38:32 +0000

@Alan Thanks for the find, I think I got it.

@Cindy Most likely you need more then the 3V and few milli-
Amps that the solar panel could output. Does the ornament have in internal LED? If so, try removing the LED on the path light and running wires from where it connected to the LED in your ornament. Of course you would need to remove any other connections the the LED in your ornament. Maybe you could reuse the path light LED so you know it works.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:57:41 +0000

I’m trying to reuse a broken (just the casing) solar powered garden light to power a mini dragonfly ornament that originally had an electric adapter to plug in the wall. I’ve tried connecting the wires several different ways, but it’s not working. Any ideas on how to help?

By: Alan Parekh

Alan Parekh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:28:14 +0000

David, search for guys and replace with guts.

I like the data recorder idea, you could even use a laser to blast the data to a receiver mounted inside a window once a day with the data.

You could wire two of them in parallel to get a bit more voltage and run the power inside to a charging table to charge phones, MP3 players etc.

By: yalin

yalin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:47:27 +0000

.. a whirligig as a wind turbine for additional power ..

By: yalin

yalin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:37:06 +0000

new idea: use it as a intrusion detection system. add laser , pir and vibration sensor..

By: yalin

yalin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:32:30 +0000

idea1: or use a zigbee to transmit it wirelessly.

By: jthomson

jthomson — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:58:26 +0000

Make a sun or moon jar. They make great gifts.

By: BlinkyB

BlinkyB — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:33:01 +0000

i bought several solar lights similar to this (10 for $20).
i use the solar lights to charge AAA batteries for my wireless mouse, i’m to lazy to by a real charger.