OUTDOOR SOLAR LIGHTS

solar ups:
dont pay for electric
cheap
easy to install
after installed you dont need to touch them again.

downs:
easy to break
on a cloudy day not on long
just for look really no good for seeing stuff

normal lights ups:
flick of a switch
powerfull

downs:
pay for electicity
annoying wiring for installation

personally im in favour of solar lights as they are so easy, i have some myself

I have both and for some reason the solar ones just don’t last as long. Also, if the "eye" gets dirty (like with soot and ash after the fire) you have to clean them off so the sun gets through and they go on. That being said, the electric ones are annoying to change the little bulbs inside and they keep changing the type of bulbs they take. And, it is annoying to change out the electric fixtures when they don’t work because of the way they connect to the wire. Lastly, they light that comes from the solar isn’t very bright as compared to the electric ones.

I have some solar garden lights (the cheapo $4 type from Walmart), each comes with a replaceable NiCD AA battery inside. Can I replace this battery with an NiMH battery? From what I read, this *might* work, but the NiMH batteries might never get fully charged.

That is correct. A solar garden light is one of the few places that NiCd does better than NiMH. First of all, NiCd takes the heat better. Second, the NiMH optimally needs a train of high current pulses to charge, even if the average current is low. NiCd can be trickle charged, which is a very simple connection to a solar cell. Some newer solar lights have an electronic circuit in them to do the pulse charging for NiMH, but if the light came with NiCd, it likely does not have this circuit.

Who here actually owns solar garden lights – any pictures of your own in use

please can i have your reviews

Yep, I do. I’ve found the plastic ones are pretty much junk. The metal ones last much longer. They must get sun most of the day for them to stay lit all night. There is one kind that comes with wires and a separate collector so your lights can be placed in the shade and the collector stays in the sun all day.

It’s the old adage You get what you pay for.