All year round Solar garden light

thingiverse

I was driven to create this solar light because I was fed up with the subpar performance from commercial lights. The one-watt solar panel and 10Ah rechargeable D cell battery storage make for a powerful combination. A 100uH inductor provides 10mA into the LED, while also drawing 33mA from the cell - resulting in an impressive output that far exceeds the light's requirements, ensuring long life and minimal phosphor degradation. The QX5252F chip is used, which can be easily sourced from eBay and has a variety of potential applications. The solar cells in the round design are old monocrystalline cells, known for their thickness and durability - making them easy to work with. However, I recognize that this may not be fair on readers who do not have access to these cells, so I've also included two alternative panel options using modern cells that can be obtained from eBay. These options include 19mm x 52mm cells connected in series-parallel to produce two volts at 500mA and 38mm x 52mm cells connected in series to provide the same output. There are also encapsulated cells available, but these would only yield half the output of the other options. The Perspex top is 4-5mm thick and can be easily bent into shape using a hot air paint stripper. This serves to diffract and reflect light around the panel, making it more effective than a plain square top. The body of the solar light is fixed to the panel using epoxy for PLA and acetone for ABS. I've also included channels in all the parts to accommodate wiring and make assembly easier without the need for a PCB. The D cell holder has extra pads on the corners to prevent it from lifting, as well as bridging supports on the socket groove that need to be removed. The negative contact on the D cell is made of .2mm thick phosphor bronze, which can be sourced from Rapid. A piece of 8mm stainless steel serves as a spike, but zinc plated studding could also be used if that's what you have available. I've used turned pin header and socket connectors, which come in strips and can be cut to size. I'll include plenty of pictures to help with construction, and please don't hesitate to ask for assistance if you encounter any issues.