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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
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 23:17:08 -0600, [email protected] 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
:eek:ut 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???
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
:On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 23:17:08 -0600, [email protected] 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
::eek:ut 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.
 
N

N Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ross Herbert said:
On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 23:17:08 -0600, [email protected] 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
:eek:ut 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???


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

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ross Herbert said:
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???

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

Ron(UK)

Jan 1, 1970
0
William said:
My mind really boggles. Light is light. Interior light will operate a solar
cell, if it's intense enough.

it rarely is
 
B

bz

Jan 1, 1970
0
it rarely is

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.
















--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap
 
S

Smitty Two

Jan 1, 1970
0
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.

The trouble I had was pounding the stakes into the concrete slab. The
sledge hammer kept smashing the solar cells on top.
 
B

bz

Jan 1, 1970
0
The trouble I had was pounding the stakes into the concrete slab. The
sledge hammer kept smashing the solar cells on top.

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






--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Thu, 6 Mar 2008 04:22:00 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"

::> On Wed, 5 Mar 2008 23:17:08 -0600, [email protected] 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?
:
:
:> 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???
:
:My mind really boggles. Light is light. Interior light will operate a solar
:cell, if it's intense enough.
:

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 :)
 
F

Franc Zabkar

Jan 1, 1970
0
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
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
:On Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:03:13 GMT, Ross Herbert
:<[email protected]> 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
 
F

Franc Zabkar

Jan 1, 1970
0
:On Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:03:13 GMT, Ross Herbert
:<[email protected]> 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.
Understood.

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 ;-)
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.

Understood.

- Franc Zabkar
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
:On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:37:27 +1100, Franc Zabkar
:<[email protected]> put finger to keyboard and composed:
:
:>On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:27:08 GMT, Ross Herbert
:><[email protected]> 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:
:
: http://members.shaw.ca/novotill/SolarGardenLight/index.htm
:
:- Franc Zabkar

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

Ron(UK)

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ross said:
:On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 17:37:27 +1100, Franc Zabkar
:<[email protected]> put finger to keyboard and composed:
:
:>On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 05:27:08 GMT, Ross Herbert
:><[email protected]> 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:
:
: http://members.shaw.ca/novotill/SolarGardenLight/index.htm
:
:- Franc Zabkar

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)
 
W

William Sommerwerck

Jan 1, 1970
0
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.

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
 
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