# Solar yard lights and long term storage



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

About 5 years ago I was shopping at Uncle Wally's and they had the solar yard lights on
sale.
I bought a case (24) and stuck them in the shed. The other day I ran across them and pulled
the little tab and it worked. I took a few of them and put them in the yard just to see if they
would work correctly and they did. So I guess long term storage for new ones might be OK.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Keep them in a safe place but the batteries in them are not always the best so have rechargeable replacements.


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## RedLion (Sep 23, 2015)

I use solar yard lights in my yard and in my house. The real cheap ones (like from the dollar store) give decent light, but usually start losing strength in a few weeks. The higher quality lights last quite a bit longer. I have a couple in my house that are still going strong after a couple of years. A very good prep in my opinion.


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## azrancher (Dec 14, 2014)

Solar lights are just like any other kind of electronics, they need to be protected against EMP or Solar Flare.

And not just because of the solar cells that charge the battery, there is an electronic chip in all of them that determines when to turn on, and when to turn off if the battery reaches a certain discharged point, trust me I have taken them apart and tinkered with them.

*Rancher*


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## SGT E (Feb 25, 2015)

Harbor freight has pretty good rechargable Nickel metal hydride batteries to replace the solar light batteries with....They last for years! 5$ or so to replace the aa's in 4 lights. I replaced 4 about 5 years ago and sitting in the yard summer and winter they are still going strong!


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## MountainGirl (Oct 29, 2017)

azrancher said:


> Solar lights are just like any other kind of electronics, they need to be protected against EMP or Solar Flare.
> 
> And not just because of the solar cells that charge the battery, there is an electronic chip in all of them that determines when to turn on, and when to turn off if the battery reaches a certain discharged point, trust me I have taken them apart and tinkered with them.
> 
> *Rancher*


Yep and Nope. 
Yep, everything you said is right on. 
And Nope, there is no way after EMP/CME/SHTF/etc I want those little lights around
for folks to think, _"Hey-there's light! Let's go there!"_


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

I have solar lights in case of storm. In the event of a prolonged event the lights will be turned off. The only lights anyone will see, if they get close enough, would be the muzzle flash before their head explodes.


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## azrancher (Dec 14, 2014)

MountainGirl said:


> _"Hey-there's light! Let's go there!"_


Yep light will be your enemy when others can see it. I was sitting out on my porch one night and saw this line of lights coming down off the mountain, where I knew there was no trail... ring ring hello Border Patrol, we got some illegals or smugglers coming down X ridge, you should be able to see them from the highway!

*Rancher*


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

We have motion activated solar lights on our sheds, and one by the back door to the house.
Normally they put off a soft glow, but movement causes bright light for 10 seconds or so.

My original plan was to put them on the approaches to the chicken area, like trip flares, to warn of predators.
But there are so dang many rabbits around setting them off that now we just have them on the sheds. I can't remember the brand, but they are good ones - $19.95 each at Ace Hardware.


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## stowlin (Apr 25, 2016)

Well now think it through a bit for these are really affordable and apparently last longer in storage then I thought. You could walk these out to an open spot you can target easily and draw a foe out with them and once charged during the day they can light up a room inside if not illuminating unshielded windows. Lots of options if they work when no one has juice. They definitely lit up the inside of our boat so we didn't need a generator on at night and charged easily in days even cloudy days.



MountainGirl said:


> Yep and Nope.
> Yep, everything you said is right on.
> And Nope, there is no way after EMP/CME/SHTF/etc I want those little lights around
> for folks to think, _"Hey-there's light! Let's go there!"_


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## jimb1972 (Nov 12, 2012)

I am intrigued now, I have no use for solar lights, but I am very interested in solar battery chargers. Has anyone disconnected the led and used them for this purpose? If so how well did it work and how long did it take?


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## phrogman (Apr 17, 2014)

I'm a big fan of solar lights. I have four lanscape lights in the front that stay on all night and motion sensored lights around the rest my home and shed.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

I've experimented with solar garden lights, too. A few useful things I've discovered is: 1) moisture will find a way inside, and the first thing that will corrode is the switch. Before you put one into service, open it up and solder across the switch leads on the board, then it won't matter when the switch dies. 2) Hot glue all the seams and over any exposed screws to improve moisture ingress; the glue is easy enough to remove if you need to change the battery. 3) Put a square of garden tape over the solar cell to keep it from being frosted by UV.

These modifications will help prolong service life, but there's only so much you can do. The cheap lights from China are soldered with non-lead solder containing an acidic flux that eventually rusts the guts of the things even if you can keep out the rain.


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## MountainGirl (Oct 29, 2017)

stowlin said:


> Well now think it through a bit for these are really affordable and apparently last longer in storage then I thought. You could walk these out to an open spot you can target easily and *draw a foe out* with them and once charged during the day they can light up a room inside if not illuminating unshielded windows. Lots of options if they work when no one has juice. They definitely lit up the inside of our boat so we didn't need a generator on at night and charged easily in days even cloudy days.


Hey! Bait! Never thought of that - lolol
We have about 25 of the cheapies right now, circling our cabin area & up the mountain - like little fairy lights all over  
And - 3 motion activated ones (one in the draw & one on the ridge where the coyotes come in, and one at the first curve of the drive that would turn on if anyone walked up it) They are very cool, indeed.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

jimb1972 said:


> I am intrigued now, I have no use for solar lights, but I am very interested in solar battery chargers. Has anyone disconnected the led and used them for this purpose? If so how well did it work and how long did it take?


 the yard lights have different voltage than the regular AAs. This is good way to charge batteries using solar.
Just use a good quality rechargeable battery. It takes all day maybe two days to get a really good full charge.
But it will get the job done. I caught these on sale for $15 and put some in my Faraday cage 
This will charge AA, AAA, d, and c batteries


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

SGT E said:


> Harbor freight has pretty good rechargable Nickel metal hydride batteries to replace the solar light batteries with....They last for years! 5$ or so to replace the aa's in 4 lights. I replaced 4 about 5 years ago and sitting in the yard summer and winter they are still going strong!


Watch out buying any Harbor Freight batteries. We used to get AA/AAA free or discounted coupons and those suckers started leaking. Happened about 3 different times. I pass on them from now.


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

MountainGirl said:


> Yep and Nope.
> Yep, everything you said is right on.
> And Nope, there is no way after EMP/CME/SHTF/etc I want those little lights around
> for folks to think, _"Hey-there's light! Let's go there!"_





budgetprepp-n said:


> About 5 years ago I was shopping at Uncle Wally's and they had the solar yard lights on
> sale.
> I bought a case (24) and stuck them in the shed. The other day I ran across them and pulled
> the little tab and it worked. I took a few of them and put them in the yard just to see if they
> would work correctly and they did. So I guess long term storage for new ones might be OK.


Even if you do not want to use the light itself. If you get a good enough unit that uses AA/AAA rechargeable batteries you now have a solar battery charger. Put them out in the morning and take the battery out at night. Now your whatever devise has power.


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## Malcom Renolds (Jul 14, 2017)

MountainGirl said:


> Yep and Nope.
> Yep, everything you said is right on.
> And Nope, there is no way after EMP/CME/SHTF/etc I want those little lights around
> for folks to think, _"Hey-there's light! Let's go there!"_


I have built Wood Lambrequins around all of our windows in the shack. I installed 100% light blocking shades in them and installed them over the windows. We can make the shack dark as night during the daytime... they TOTALLY block out the sunlight. Pretty handy for blocking light from escaping out during the night as well. They are just like the ones you see in RVs. I can take some pics if you are interested.




























This also let us buy "standard" size blinds that saved a ton of money. It also keeps the house warmer in the winter at night and cooler in the summer. Mine are not as fancy as the upholstered ones, just a "shadow box" frame with window casing attached. At least the wood matches the baseboard. LOL.


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