Bug In Solar Lights

[ODA 226]

The globe lights at the bottom don't have on/off switches, unfortunately. But my work-around for this is to rotate the glass tube outward during the day in order to achieve a maximum charge for the globes.

BTW: The globes throw out a light pattern on my ceiling that looks like stars. It's really cool!

[ODA 226]

Note! Be careful with how much gravel you put in the base of your glass vase! It can exert outward pressure and burst your container!

[ODA 226]

I was looking at the El-Cheapo lanterns I bought from Wally World and that had served me so well during Irene and got an idea to convert them into Bug In Solar Lights. Since the ones I had were still full of kerosene, I went to Wally World and bought two more lanterns @ $4.95 each:



And two solar spotlights:



I removed the top of lantern and drilled a hole in the top and disassembled the solar spotlight. After that I Gorilla Glued the solar panel to the lantern top:





When the glued dried, I reassembled the solar lights to the panel and reattached the lantern top.

Being a man of the new millenium and in touch with my femine and vulnerable side, I made a small floral arrangement and placed it inside of the glass. Here's the finished product!:




Here it is at night!:



I think it looks pretty neat! It is decorative during the day AND at night, but PRACTICAL TOO!The really cool thing about it is if needed, it can be easily reconverted to burn kerosene in a pinch! Also, if you need more light, you can remove the floral arrangement.

Enjoy!

226

[raptor]

Those are neat.

I just want to point out that the spotlights you have can be used as inside lights as is. You leave them outside during the day to charge and then bring them inside and simply use the solar panel on top as a the stand for the light.

[ODA 226]

Raptor: That is so true but they look like shit!

I chose the spotlight for maximum output, and the lanterns for their semblance of normalcy and asthetics. The flowers, with their colors and especially the fake grass (after spending 3 years in Iraq), IMVHFO, ....just makes one feel better about being in a really sucky situation!

Plus, it keeps a former tough guy in touch with his "sensitive and vulnerable" side!

[MikeTheOutcast]

Hey i just came up with a theory with the same asthetic concept of this: i picked up some simplistic LED's at dollar tree (3 for a dollar) they consist of 4 small magnetic batteries a switch and an LED all covered with a small plastic coat. I was thinking if you got a vase or container (such as the ones shown). Then hook up 1 or more of these small LED's at the top of the container. inside the jar have a 1 way reflector at the bottem on top of a solar panel. when the light shot through the 1 way reflector if it was not absorbed by the solar panel it would reflect back and fourth until it was. then this small charge would go through a wire connected to the panels battery back up to the LED's battery creating a continuous span of light i know some energy would be lost in the process but of such a miniscule amount it wouldnt have any major effect. keep in mind these LED's can last for days with the small battery charging them let alone another charge charging the lost power in the battery. these LED's come in different colors and are no more than an inch tall and 3/4's of an inch wide. but they still light up pretty good. i dont have the materials to test this but if anyone does please do. Again this is just a theory i thought about so you could have light without the sun out. and if you feel it might lose all its electricity because its been running for awhile , put it in the sun for a few hours. this is just an alternative lighting source i thought of. if you can create this please post pictures and us what you did. if you think it wont work please tell me why.Im not entirely sure of it but i think its worth a shot.
Thanks
-Mike

[MikeTheOutcast]

Hey i just came up with a theory with the same asthetic concept of this: i picked up some simplistic LED's at dollar tree (3 for a dollar) they consist of 4 small magnetic batteries a switch and an LED all covered with a small plastic coat. I was thinking if you got a vase or container (such as the ones shown). Then hook up 1 or more of these small LED's at the top of the container. inside the jar have a 1 way reflector at the bottem on top of a solar panel. when the light shot through the 1 way reflector if it was not absorbed by the solar panel it would reflect back and fourth until it was. then this small charge would go through a wire connected to the panels battery back up to the LED's battery creating a continuous span of light i know some energy would be lost in the process but of such a miniscule amount it wouldnt have any major effect. keep in mind these LED's can last for days with the small battery charging them let alone another charge charging the lost power in the battery. these LED's come in different colors and are no more than an inch tall and 3/4's of an inch wide. but they still light up pretty good. i dont have the materials to test this but if anyone does please do. Again this is just a theory i thought about so you could have light without the sun out. and if you feel it might lose all its electricity because its been running for awhile , put it in the sun for a few hours. this is just an alternative lighting source i thought of. if you can create this please post pictures and us what you did. if you think it wont work please tell me why.Im not entirely sure of it but i think its worth a shot.
Thanks
-Mike

[Whackpack7]

I've had a lot of positive responses about my Solar Lights in the "Lessons From Irene" thread and Raptor asked me to show how I made them so here you go!:
3. Shoe Goo

Shoe Goo... Haha not trying to get off topic here, but ever made a ghillie suit? Bad memories...

[ODA 226]

I've had a lot of positive responses about my Solar Lights in the "Lessons From Irene" thread and Raptor asked me to show how I made them so here you go!:
3. Shoe Goo

Shoe Goo... Haha not trying to get off topic here, but ever made a ghillie suit? Bad memories...

I've made many...hence, the heavy use of Shoe Goo on everything I make!

[ninja-elbow]

Shoe Goo is a handy thing - how I kept my armor together in my SCA fighting days The best use was keeping my "hobnail panel" on the bottoms of my very period fighting shoes. Just the Shoe Goo adhering leather on leather and it outlasted the shoe itself. I was very impressed.

I picked up some solar lights suitable for this project. Just need to hit up the Grocery Outlet/Dollar Store/craft store next weekend. Winter is coming *scary music*. Speaking of Shoe Goo ... mine is dead so I better get some of that too.

[ODA 226]

Thanks for reminding me that I need a new tube of Shoe Goo also!

[Brain245]

Good ideas- I will have to build me some of those.

[TCC]

Sorry if this has already been answered, but how much were the glass containers? I want to try to make a few of these.

[ODA 226]

The large glass containers were $23.00 at Micheals. You can probably find them cheaper if you look.

[AnonEmous]

Quick question about how you use these: are they always kept at the windows and left on, or do you turn them off at night to maintain the charge for use in an emergency?

I picked up one discounted yard light at Target (75% off) and have been experimenting with it. It does not seem to charge nearly as well when turned to the off position, meaning when it is dark the light does not automatically come on.

[TCC]

While looking on Amazon for cheap solar garden lights, I found these. They seem like a good option if you don't want to put everything together yourself.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004B924OG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004B924OG&linkCode=as2&tag=na083f-20

[ODA 226]

Quick question about how you use these: are they always kept at the windows and left on, or do you turn them off at night to maintain the charge for use in an emergency?

I picked up one discounted yard light at Target (75% off) and have been experimenting with it. It does not seem to charge nearly as well when turned to the off position, meaning when it is dark the light does not automatically come on.

I normally kept my large ones in the on position and the small ones in the off position. The large ones were kept in windows that had light exposer for 12+hours a day, whereas the smaller lights were used as an emergency backup and were put in windows that didn't have as much light.

[LittleQuick]

I think this just became my newest fun project! Looks great!

[ODA 226]

I think this just became my newest fun project! Looks great!

Thanks! Have fun! I sure did!

[AnonEmous]

I bought another, smaller yard light and have been experimenting with both. I switched out the NI-CD batteries with NI-MH batteries and am waiting for them to completely drain to see how well they charge up with solar power.

I do not have any pictures, but instead of frosting the glass, we bought an inexpensive bag of white, polished rocks or marbles from a crafts store and placed them in the bottom of the glass jar we got from the same craft store.

The light given off is a decent amount, enough that you do not need to turn on the light in a small bathroom.

[ODA 226]

I did the same thing with the emergency lights in my bathrooms. They have clear, sky-blue marbles in the bottom that reflect light and look kinda cool too! Glad you had fun making yours and sharing!

[AnonEmous]

The globe lights at the bottom don't have on/off switches, unfortunately. But my work-around for this is to rotate the glass tube outward during the day in order to achieve a maximum charge for the globes.

So I bought a few more of the smaller solar powered lights and unfortunately they are the AAA kind without on/off switches. Do you know whether they are actually charging when they do not automatically turn on?

Are they something of a "binary" light, whether they are either charging or on? Just wondering if they are charging at all if they are not actually on.

[ODA 226]

The ones I have charge even if they're not on.

[AnonEmous]

I've had a lot of positive responses about my Solar Lights in the "Lessons From Irene" thread and Raptor asked me to show how I made them so here you go!:

I have been experimenting a lot with ODA 226's design and may have added one thing that makes it better, depending on how the light and jar are used.

Specifically, I lined the bottom of the jar with one layer of aluminum foil by using the dimensions of the lid to cut the one layer to fit.

I noticed an LED lantern I use has six LED lights at the bottom, which shined up to a reflective surface and diffused through a frosted plastic housing. I figured I would try the same thing and it seemed to give off noticeably more light. It seems to work best with a jar completely frosted and without marbles placed at the bottom.

I considered trying to calculate the difference in light given off by frosting and not frosting the jar, the kind of marbles used at the bottom, using the diffuser the lights come with or not, or even frosting the diffuser entirely. There are too many variables for me to compare in a meaningful way, but the overall simplicity of ODA 226's design and step-by-step instructions make experimenting with different designs interesting, practical, and inexpensive.

Thanks again ODA 226 for sharing and showing the step-by-step directions.