Solar Garden Lighs/sidewalk lights

:A neighbor across the street has five of them along each side of his :sidewalk.In the day time, the solar cells on top of the lights charge up :a little battery, (even on cloudy days too) and at dusk, the lights :light up and shine all night long.My neighbor said the lights wont put :out any light if he brings them (or one of them) inside his house.The :lights charge up in the day time, why wont they work inside his house? :cuhulin

The mind boggles....

"the solar cells on top of the lights..."

S.O.L.A.R meaning "pertaining to the sun"

Does your neighbour have his own SUN inside the house???

:On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 23:17:08 -0600, snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote: : ::A neighbor across the street has five of them along each side of his ::sidewalk.In the day time, the solar cells on top of the lights charge up ::a little battery, (even on cloudy days too) and at dusk, the lights ::light up and shine all night long.My neighbor said the lights wont put ::out any light if he brings them (or one of them) inside his house.The ::lights charge up in the day time, why wont they work inside his house? ::cuhulin : : :The mind boggles.... : :"the solar cells on top of the lights..." : :S.O.L.A.R meaning "pertaining to the sun" : :Does your neighbour have his own SUN inside the house???

Perhaps I misunderstood your question.

If you mean that the lamps are already charged by being in the sun and they won't light when he brings them inside the house during the day then this is also easy to explain. The lamps have an LDR which only allows the light to come on after dusk or when the LDR is covered.

The product that always tickled me were the concept of solar torches.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

My mind really boggles. Light is light. Interior light will operate a solar cell, if it's intense enough.

it rarely is

"Ron(UK)" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

It IS usually bright enough inside the house to keep the solar night lights FROM TURNING ON. Did he turn off the room lights?

as for charging the lights, now that is another question.

Smitty Two wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.phx.highwinds-media.com:

Next time, wrap your hand over the solar cells. It will keep them from getting broken.

As others have commented, interior lighting is unlikely to be intense enough to charge the battery in a solar lamp intended for outdoor use. Almost impossible when you consider the extremely poor efficiency of those piddling cheap solar cells.

So, the mind still boggles :-)

LMAO !!!!

Arfa

On Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:03:13 GMT, Ross Herbert put finger to keyboard and composed:

I would think that an LDR would be an unnecessary expense. Surely all you would need to do would be to detect whether there was any output from the solar cell.

- Franc Zabkar

:On Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:03:13 GMT, Ross Herbert : put finger to keyboard and composed: : :>If you mean that the lamps are already charged by being in the sun and they :>won't light when he brings them inside the house during the day then this is :>also easy to explain. The lamps have an LDR which only allows the light to come :>on after dusk or when the LDR is covered. : :I would think that an LDR would be an unnecessary expense. Surely all :you would need to do would be to detect whether there was any output :from the solar cell. : :- Franc Zabkar

The idea is for the solar cell to charge the battery during the daytime and for the LED to come on only when needed ie, after dark. The LDR senses dusk and performs the function. If the LED was allowed to stay on during the daytime while the battery was also being charged, the battery would never fully charge. The solar cell isn't very efficient.

Next time I go to the Wal Mart store, I am going to look around in the yard and garden department.I will buy one or two of those lights and let them charge up in the daytime outside.Then I will bring them into a dark room in my house and see if they will put out any light.They might be good for power outages.

On the web, Diesel Fuel Trees in Brazil

That will boggle your mind. cuhulin

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:27:08 GMT, Ross Herbert put finger to keyboard and composed:

Understood.

The solar cell is a *light dependent* sensor. It can perform the same function. Think about it ;-)

Understood.

- Franc Zabkar

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:37:27 +1100, Franc Zabkar put finger to keyboard and composed:

Hmm. Here are two circuits which don't require an additional sensor and two that use a CdS photocell:

- Franc Zabkar

:On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:37:27 +1100, Franc Zabkar : put finger to keyboard and composed: : :>On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:27:08 GMT, Ross Herbert :> put finger to keyboard and composed: : :>>The LDR senses dusk and :>>performs the function. :>

:>The solar cell is a *light dependent* sensor. It can perform the same :>function. Think about it ;-)

Logical, and understood

: :Hmm. Here are two circuits which don't require an additional sensor :and two that use a CdS photocell: : :

The only ones I have pulled apart are those with the LDR.

Some of mine have ldr`s and one hasnt. the one which has no ldr powers a string of about 30 leds by upconverting 1.5 volts to 15v pulsed. there`s a quite complex circuit which detects whethere the cells are producing any output and switches accordingly. It`s failed twice now due to the leads from the cells corroding away.

Why is it always the negative lead that corrodes?

Ron(UK)

How do you intend to charge the lamps indoors?

In auto batteries, it is usually the positive cell (or is it the negative cell? it's been a long time, I forget which one) next to that post which is the first to fail.Positive is really Negative, but dont tell the SAE that. cuhulin

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:42:24 +0000, "Ron(UK)" put finger to keyboard and composed:

I'm not sure if this applies to you, but I've solved corrosion problems with the solar powered "eternity" lamps at the cemetery by using gel filled telecom "butt connectors":

- Franc Zabkar