LED lights that require no external electricity to light up your patio/deck

[Supervisor42]

Ok, I've never been a 'solar' fan because we have mostly overcast days down here and it just doesn't work .
DW bought a box of 16 of these for $32 for me to play with.
I didn't have much hope for them, but I stuck them up anyway.
Well low&behold, they charge fully on completely overcast days!
I liked them so much, I bought another box of 16.
Jackyled, what a name to pin on them!

The Good things:
1. The revolutionary "L" shaped design allows the solar panel to face the open sky and the light shines in the opposite direction, where you need it instead of your lawn.
2. Wonderful warm 3K light that imitates incandescent bulbs, instead of that harsh blue light that LED's are famous for.
3. They come with a plastic strip that disconnects the battery so they aren't 'beyond dead' when you receive them. I put a red dot on the ones above so you can see them.
4. At 2-bux apiece, if you had to toss one, nobody will cry.
5. Fully automatic, no wires or switches to fool with.
6. 5-6 hour runtime, which is plenty to get me in bed at 1:am.

Testing:
A few of the batteries in the first batch failed, most did not. All of the ones in the second batch are doing great after a month.
The few early ones that failed, developed a SD (self discharge) problem, meaning they would charge fully during the day and could light the light up, but would be dead by dark. I confirmed this with testing. Fully charged and sitting on the desk connected to nothing for an hour, they would be below 1v.
But all is not lost, because they just happen to be "AAA" size.
I found out years ago that Energizer Lithium batteries could be recharged hundreds of times if they are maintained above 50% SOC (state of charge).
All of the ones I swapped in are still working flawlessly after a month of running.
Testing: A few of the battery contacts rusted because I install them vertical and they are supposed to be installed horizontal on porch railings.
I just scraped them clean, coated them with A&D ointment, and put them back to work.

My Crew:

Pole#1 (8)

Pole#2 (10)

Pole#3 (10)

Pole#4 (4)

Hopefully I can get a picture of them all doing their thing at night, but the tablet is a pain.

 

[Supervisor42]

Hopefully I can get a picture of them all doing their thing at night, but the tablet is a pain.

Borrowed the wife's smartphone .
Here is our 'pitch dark' patio on a moonless night with my 'crew' at work:

(See the far right for reference).

 

[Magus]

You need a motion detector light with a red sleeve just at the edge of the light cone. It won't bother your wildlife, but it scares the holy hell out of humans! (Most critters are color-blind.) I'm still wondering why my UV light scared my coons so bad, Roscoe or any of the rest never came back!

 

[Supervisor42]

You need a motion detector light with a red sleeve just at the edge of the light cone. It won't bother your wildlife, but it scares the holy hell out of humans! (Most critters are color-blind.) I'm still wondering why my UV light scared my coons so bad, Roscoe or any of the rest never came back!

Nobody comes up to the back patio.
We do have a battery-powered motion-light on the front porch though.
Nobody can sneak up without being blasted with a heller-bright harsh-blue light that would remind you of the old stage spotlights.
We rarely go out there after dark and never have nightime visitors so batteries last over 2 years.

 

[Supervisor42]

I forgot one important thing in the Testing part above.
The photo at the very top shows the white foam double-face sticky strips that come with them to stick up the lights.
Toss them in your utility drawer to stick things up indoors.
Testing revealed that they do not work very long outdoors.
I used Scotch EXTREME Mounting Tape to put them back up.
But be warned, it is viciously sticky stuff!
When you cut off a piece, you have to play tug-of-war to get it to turn loose of the scissor blades.

...But it does a damgood job at what it does!

 

[Magus]

I put a cheek riser on a 300 magnum with that stuff, its still there after 30 years.

 

[Chesney Richardson]

I forgot one important thing in the Testing part above.
The photo at the very top shows the white foam double-face sticky strips that come with them to stick up the lights.
Toss them in your utility drawer to stick things up indoors.
Testing revealed that they do not work very long outdoors.
I used Scotch EXTREME Mounting Tape to put them back up.
But be warned, it is viciously sticky stuff!
When you cut off a piece, you have to play tug-of-war to get it to turn loose of the scissor blades.

...But it does a damgood job at what it does!

My little brother got that crap in my hair once....my hair was almost floor length at the time, by the time Mama got it out it was barely past my ears.....

 

[Pearl]

I use bigger solar spotlights to light up my dog yards. Always have good light even during power outages.

 

[Supervisor42]

...
Well low&behold, they charge fully on completely overcast days!

I have to correct this.
They charge some on overcast days.
Little did I know, that with a full-sun day they stockpile enough power to run more than two additional nights.
After an unusual string of 4 overcast days in a row, it became obvious that they only gathered enough power during overcast to run at half-bright.

 

[Pearl]

I have to correct this.
They charge some on overcast days.
Little did I know, that with a full-sun day they stockpile enough power to run more than two additional nights.
After an unusual string of 4 overcast days in a row, it became obvious that they only gathered enough power during overcast to run at half-bright.

I've run into that issue too. A few posts back I mentioned I use solar spot lights my dog yards. Several overcast days in a row and they don't light much! But in general they are great!

 

[Aerindel]

I have to correct this.
They charge some on overcast days.
Little did I know, that with a full-sun day they stockpile enough power to run more than two additional nights.
After an unusual string of 4 overcast days in a row, it became obvious that they only gathered enough power during overcast to run at half-bright.

This is my experience with my home solar system, and why I only use it for backup. One sunny day can last me a week, but I may not get one sunny day per week in the winter.