# Solar-powered garden lights



## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

I figured I'd put this note here because I've collected a number of "malibu"-type lights for use in lighting buildings on the layout.

I just picked up two of the smallest and cheapest solar lights I've run across so far - at Wegman's. Just a buck ninety-nine each! Best part is the solar panel is a shade under 1-1/4 inch square, sitting in a 1-1/2 inch diameter circular housing. I figure I can carefully cut the panel out of the housing and it should fit perfectly in a couple chimneys in a building I'm "kit-bashing" (actually combining a pair of bird feeders into a house or something).

The negative side of "you get what you pay for" is that the rechargeable battery is a fat thing, not a triple A, labeled at 250 mAh, unlike the 600 mAh AAA's that came in all the others I've collected. But if I can get the solar panel out cleanly, I can wire it up with one of the 600's.

No way of knowing whether all Weg's will have this. I found it at the Mt. Read Blvd. store. If there's a Weg's in your part of the world (NY, PA, NJ?, MD?) you might want to be watching for 'em.

JackM


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## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

Hi Jack, 

You don't need to do any alterations as I can tell; just swap out the AA 250mAh for an AA rated for 600 mAh 

Dave


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Sorry, Dave, one little detail - not a triple A, it's a 2/3 AA.











I may want to wire in a AAA socket from one of the others. There is no free lunch.

JackM


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

Buyer beware! I bought some of those cheap garden lights 12 years ago, and _some _of them have died on me! I had to replace them. At $2 apiece, that really adds up.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

I see Wal Mart has them for $1.50 if you don't mind stars and stripes.


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