Decent solar lights?

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PreppingPingu
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Decent solar lights?

Post by PreppingPingu »

Like many people I have a few garden solar lights but in general terms they are pretty useless. They are things given as garden gifts which are all very nice but they don't exactly shed a lot of light! Obviously you need to keep the solar panel free from grime but generally, the solar strips are tiny and the bulbs small. Can any of you recommend a decent solar lamp that actually gives off a reasonable light? I have candles at home but would like to invest in a good solar lamp. Thanks :)
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yorkshirewolf
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by yorkshirewolf »

The issue with the solar garden lights isn't the panels or the led bulbs but the batteries they put in them, they're small capacity and cheap.

Stronger light needs more power - more power needs bigger batteries - bigger batteries need more power to charge them!

I bought garden lights with removable AA batteries and they were only 600mah, i replaced them with some duracell 2500mah and they last a lot longer, but through winter the batteries do need to be swapped over and charged, luckily i have stashes of rechargeable batteries so it's a five minute job every month or two.

I also have a small 4x AA battery led spotlight on the gate and that has an external solar panel about 6 inches square, without the panel the batteries lasted about six months(ish) as it's on a IR sensor, so isn't on for long but with the panel i'm expecting it to last a lot longer - we'll see...

This sort of thing:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Solar-LED-PIR ... SwkNZUfeu9
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ukpreppergrrl
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by ukpreppergrrl »

Just a heads up for anyone with solar lights and a separate solar panel like the one YW listed: beware of foxes munching the connecting cable! :evil: I have lost a number of solar lights thanks to those russet beasts. And solar panels feeding deep cycle batteries (ok I just replaced the cables...but even so, some panels are harder than others to replace the cables on!). And low power fountains. And the satellite dish feed cable. And..well...anything that has a frickin' cable! I think they literally get a buzz out of munching leccy wires! Only solution was to run the wires through copper pipes. Munch on that!
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Jamesey1981
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by Jamesey1981 »

If it's for a light that is to be used indoors in case of a power cut then keep an eye out for the Philips life light ones, I have a lifelight home system in my shed, has a panel about the size of an iPad which charges a couple of 18650 batteries in a little battery pack which has two hanging pendant lights connected, it also has a USB output which I use to charge my phone, small power tools and power my radio and fan, it's actually brilliant.
They made a lantern as well, I have a feeling they've stopped selling them now, they were being sold off very cheap in home bargains, but I managed to get one on eBay, was a bit more money than home bargains were selling them for at about twenty quid but my nearest one is miles and miles away and I would have spent more than the extra in fuel.
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Yorkshire Andy
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

ukpreppergrrl wrote:Just a heads up for anyone with solar lights and a separate solar panel like the one YW listed: beware of foxes munching the connecting cable! :evil: I have lost a number of solar lights thanks to those russet beasts. And solar panels feeding deep cycle batteries (ok I just replaced the cables...but even so, some panels are harder than others to replace the cables on!). And low power fountains. And the satellite dish feed cable. And..well...anything that has a frickin' cable! I think they literally get a buzz out of munching leccy wires! Only solution was to run the wires through copper pipes. Munch on that!

Look into pyro cable

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral ... clad_cable
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Yorkshire Andy
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Jamesey1981 wrote:If it's for a light that is to be used indoors in case of a power cut then keep an eye out for the Philips life light ones, I have a lifelight home system in my shed, has a panel about the size of an iPad which charges a couple of 18650 batteries in a little battery pack which has two hanging pendant lights connected, it also has a USB output which I use to charge my phone, small power tools and power my radio and fan, it's actually brilliant.
They made a lantern as well, I have a feeling they've stopped selling them now, they were being sold off very cheap in home bargains, but I managed to get one on eBay, was a bit more money than home bargains were selling them for at about twenty quid but my nearest one is miles and miles away and I would have spent more than the extra in fuel.
Seconded



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-LifeLi ... B0721QFSVR


The double pendent sat seems to be out of stock everywhere...

But......



viewtopic.php?f=15&t=13491&p=149422&hil ... nk#p149422

My comment on the fire risk is related to power banks Vs candles... Decent power banks have over charge / discharge protection etc
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Brambles
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by Brambles »

I missed out on the double pendant life light, but I can thoroughly recommend the USB lightbulbs Andy mentions in his link. I have two and they are brilliant(pun intended :D ) I use mine with a power bank I'm just wanting to get a solar panel now and I'm sorted.
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xplosiv1
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Re: Decent solar lights?

Post by xplosiv1 »

Jamesey1981 wrote:If it's for a light that is to be used indoors in case of a power cut then keep an eye out for the Philips life light ones, I have a lifelight home system in my shed, has a panel about the size of an iPad which charges a couple of 18650 batteries in a little battery pack which has two hanging pendant lights connected, it also has a USB output which I use to charge my phone, small power tools and power my radio and fan, it's actually brilliant.
They made a lantern as well, I have a feeling they've stopped selling them now, they were being sold off very cheap in home bargains, but I managed to get one on eBay, was a bit more money than home bargains were selling them for at about twenty quid but my nearest one is miles and miles away and I would have spent more than the extra in fuel.
I havent seen that one before ... they have them on amazon for £9.29, just bought one to try it out.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-LifeLi ... dpSrc=srch
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