Several months ago I found what I considered a good deal on solar lights at the local Family Dollar store. They were sold in pairs for 10.00/pr. so I purchased several to use for driveway markers. They do make it easier to find the driveway at night however I noticed that although they work well in the evening the batteries would be depleted (and therefore the lights not working) each morning when Sue leaves for work.
Recently at a local supermarket I spotted a recharger that came w/ 4 AA rechargeable batteries. The batteries that came w/ the charger are N-Mh type rated at 2500 mAh @ 1.5v, the ones that came w/the lights are N-Cd rated at 600 mAh @ 1.2v.
After charging the batteries I put one in one of the lights in a dark room and turned it on at 9:00 am yesterday morning. It is still lit so this evening I switched out the batteries in three of the outdoor lights. I am certain they will still be lit in the morning but will the solar cell provide enough charge to keep up with nightly drain?
If not I will try to wire another solar cell in parallel with the ones currently installed.
Battery experiment
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