So a while back you bought a solar lantern (maybe like the one I have, a SOLIG Solar Powered Globe from IKEA) which you hung on some branch. Nice! It did its job excellent but after a year or two the lantern looked like it had its best day. Maybe it doesn’t even work anymore… This is what I did with mine: I took out the solar part, put in a new rechargeable battery, and put it in the lid of a glass (mason) jar! It is really easy to do with the help from a little hacksaw to make it fit in the lid, some glue and some old paint (not required).

Basically you can use any (old) solar panel, if it is round and (almost) fit in a lid of mason jar, you’re all set. Mine even fit on a normal pickle jar, so just poke around the house to find what you can use.

Check the battery

Solar lights automatically turn on when the amount of sun light falls below a certain threshold: the cells stop producing power and the photoresistor inside turns on the little LED light. So if you want to check the battery, cover the solar panel with your hand or move it to a dark place. Since mostly all (cheap) solar lights are equipped with a low-quality battery chances are that the LED isn’t workiny anymore or very faint. I mean, why are some solar garden lights cheaper then the average rechargeable battery? Exactly. So these batteries won’t last long and you’ll end up with either a dead solar light or one that is flashing all the time.

Best is to change the factory battery (usually have only one color, green or yellow, no manufacturer mark) for a more common rechargeable one. Preferably with more amps so you’ll have more juice after it is charged. In my case the panel had a 600mAh battery which I changed for a 700mAh. But don’t worry, if you don’t have another one and the old one is still working, skip this step! You can always change the battery later. Don’t forget you can’t use regular alkaline batteries! They have to be rechargeable, like NiCads.

Now if you’ve found a (mason) jar, try to fit the panel in the lid. You can always use a hacksaw to adjust the size. In my case I only had to saw off the edge. Paint it with some old paint, doesn’t really matter what kind, and after drying put some glue on the edge and glue it into the lid. Done! Now you only have to decorate it with for example frosted paint or foil, or put some water in it, or some dirt with a little flower, etc. etc.

Solar jar night lamp

I glued a piece of aluminium foil on the bottom to have more light and I use mine as a night lamp, so guests won’t break their necks or legs when trying to find the bathroom Also ideal for kids who want a night lamp.

For a more extensive step by step, read this sun jar article.

Where to buy a solar sun jar

Don’t want to make one yourself? Then buy one at Amazon or eBay.

A litre of light (Isang Litrong Liwanag) is a incredible project which aims to bring eco-friendly and cheap Solar Bottle Bulbs to disprivileged communities and millions of people who live in the dark.

This is a really cool invention and only takes a few simple and cheap components: old plastic bottles, filtered water, bleach and sealant.

Once upon a time I had a RC car with a 3.5cc nitro engine. Lots of smoke and noise. I loved the thing, until it crashed into a sidewalk with 50 km/h… So that was many years ago and I haven’t had a toy car since. Now however there are interesting kits on the market which are fun to build and play with. For example (solar powered) fuel cell toy cars. Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies introduced the H-CELL 2.0, an incredible fast RC car, which actually stores hydrogen in smal, battery shaped cartridges. These cartridges, called HydroSTIKS, can store 11Wh of energy. According to their website, this is enough for 2 to 3 charges for average mobile phones, or 1 to 2 charges of a 3G smartphone. You can charge these cartridges with a bit of water and electricity from e.g. a solar panel.

…downside is, this toy costs about 500 bucks. So you might start with a more simple and cheaper kit to understand the basics of fuel cell technology and to have some fun too.

Fuel cells combine oxygen with hydrogen to produce water and electricity. Result: energy & little pollution.

For more info on the working of fuel cells, I recommend reading Wikipedia’s article about fuel cells or read these fuel cell basics on this webpage.

Where to buy fuel cell toys?

There are many toys and kits ranging from 20 to 200 USD with lots of features, so take a look here to see what’s in stock and what’s in your price range: Amazon or eBay

If you want to DIY your own solar powered toy car, check out make your own solar powered toy cars.

I am currently working on my third engine, after my 1st and 2nd attempts failed miserably… I thought my third engine would run. I thought wrong. It was airtight, it turned smoothly but it seemed that the piston didn’t had strength enough to turn the cranks. Maybe I made the piston too big for the small tuna can? So there is little air to lift the balloon?

If somebody knows the answer, let me know. For know I am going to try and find a smaller cylinder for my piston.

…maybe I have some reading to do about piston sizes…

…and maybe it wasn’t so airtight after all. It got condensation in the cylinder of the displacer, so that’s not good. Back to the drawing board! Maybe someday I’ll have one running like this solar one or this solar powered lamina flow engine.

Buy a paper stirling engine

If you want to learn the basics of a stirling engine but unfortunately you have -like me- two left hands, you can always buy a cheap low-temperature engine. Maybe this incredible cheap but working! cardboard engine on eBay

OK, two days after my first attempt of building a homemade stirling engine, I somehow cooled off and tried again. I fished the 250 ml. soda can I threw in earlier out of the trash bin, straightened it, build the darn hot air engine… and failed again! Shame it didn’t turn out like this one…

But it wasn’t as frustrating as the first one. In fact I learned to be patient and take more time for assembling the thing and carefully put things together. But alas, not carefully enough it seems…

It looks good though (but maybe you think otherwise, no hard feelings), and I was almost convinced it slightly-almost-a-little-bit wanted to turn the cranks by its own! I could clearly see and feel there were hardly any airleaks. The piece of balloon reacted as it should on the different temperatures, you could see it expand with hot air and collapse in cold air. I tried to help a bit by taping some frozen peas (yes, peas… I don’t have icecubes) to the top, but still to no avail.

This time however I think where I have to pay more attention to: Friction. Next time I am going to make the cranks from thicker wire. The one I used is too thin and everything is just too ‘wobbly’. So, stay tuned. Again

For more websites dedicated to Stirling engines, visit the Stirling’s webring.

Cheap stirling engine

Of course you can save yourself the hassle and buy this cheap cardboard stirling engine on eBay

UPDATE: Stirling attempt #3

Homemade Stirling engine, attempt #1

Building a DIY stirling engine was high on my list for quite some time, because it seems a cool idea to have an tin can engine running with the sun as fuel. But before I would build a solar driven stirling engine I first had to learn how such an engine works, so I finally tried building one and I…failed! Miserably. So that was quite frustrating but it was also fun to do and I learned I lesson I guess: to have patience and work accurately. I searched the internet and youtube for some nice plans for DIY hot air engines made from cans like this diy stirling for beginners and this easy-to-do LTD stirling engine which -according to the siteowner- should take no more than 1 hour to build. So after 10 hours I ended up with a total useless pile of junk, glue, melted plastic, and it didn’t turn… Only if I ‘helped’, it would spin like once. I made a picture before I smashed my homemade engine to smithereens (a feeling I already surpressed for some hours…).

So what you see here is a whiskey packaging tube (carton! What was I thinking…), and inside is a 250 ml. soda can. Inside the soda can is an empty toilet roll used as displacer, on top the piston, made from a (heart-shaped) balloon. Held together with some tape, glue and some wire. So what went wrong?

Simple. A lack of patience, a lot of air leaks, a lot of friction, and a lack of patience. And I think I didn’t cool the top enough to make a sufficient difference between hot and cold. A LTD stirling engine (Low Temperature Differential) has to be made with some accuracy, there are even engines running on the heat of your hand, but to make one of those requires a fair amount of precision… So, up to the next model! Stay tuned!

Want to learn the basics of a working stirling engine model? You can buy this cheap cardboard stirling engine on eBay

UPDATE: Read about my second attempt to build a small homemade stirling engine.

Now here is one of my solar favorites. Sol Cinema: an 1972 caravan recycled into a fully working solar-powered cinema! Complete with usherettes. Originally, this small cinema is a arts charity Undercurrents project.

Power

With the help of an engineer from Solarsense.co.uk they build the system and decided to use 4 lithium ion batteries -normally used in electric cars- to power this small cinema. They are charged with 120 watt solar panels to ensure that they always have power, whatever the weather conditions. To reduce energy demand, the builders bought a low energy projector (LED), laptop & lighting. Too bad it isn’t the ‘real deal’ celluloid with an old fashioned super 8 projector. But unfortunately I think an 8mm projector uses lots more energy…

Of course, you or your company can hire the entire cinema including staff and a wide selection of (short) films. And no worries, they have fully charged batteries in case it’s raining.

Visit The Sol Cinema’s website or take a look at The Sol Cinema’s facebook page.

Watching television but the batteries from your RC are exhausted? Then get your lazy butt up and w a l k to your set to change channels! It’s good for your health too! But of course this is sometimes not possible, new TV sets don’t have buttons anymore on which you can put a finger. Bummer! So, how about buying some rechargeable batteries? With the Solar Modification Kit from Sparkle Labs you won’t ever have to get them out!

Just turn the RC on its belly and if there is sufficient light it’ll charge automatically. Heck, you can hack any small device powered with AA or AAA NiMH batteries to make it solar powered.

SunMod Solar Modification Kit

• comes with a flexible 4.8V solar cell with connectors
• mailable packaging
• double-sided tape

Last time I checked it was 18 bucks and you can order it directly from Sparkle Labs webshop.

Nohohon Zoku

These solar powered desk knick-knacks are marketed as Nohohon in Japan and means ‘carefree family’ or ‘sunny people’.

So what I can use it for?

Looking at the same faces over and over, day in day out can be a little bit depressing. Ugly big nosed colleagues, miserable friends, annoying mother-in-laws, schoolmates… Life is just too short to waste your valuable time staring at unpleasant mugs.

So how to brighten up your day? Simple, start staring at a face which always smiles, never has spots, a beard, long hair (in fact it’s bald…), doesn’t shout or spit at you or asks stupid questions! Nope, with the ‘Sunshine Buddy’ your days will always be the same, ehhh… I mean will always be sunny and happy and bobbly! Of course you need the sun to make it bobbly.

The Sunshine Buddy:

• is a kind of sun powered Bobblehead
• has a head which nods silently from side to side. Forever.
• maybe the perfect gift to keep your running kid quiet. Or even hypnotize it.
• is のほほん族 in Japanese and is brought to you by the famous toy maker Takary TOMY
• is a sunpowered nodder, wobbler or bobbing head doll
• has its own facebook page!

Where to get your own solar Bobblehead

You can buy solar Bobbleheads buddies at: Amazon or eBay

Why?

But what’s the point? Well, according to the makers, a Sunshine Buddy can effectively calm your aura and relieve their owners from stress. Maybe it’s the nodding/swaying/moving head, maybe it’s the permant smile on his/her/its face, or is it the environmentally friendly edge?

Want to know more and you’re able to read Japanese? Visit the official Nohohon Zoku Sunshine Buddy website.

If your Sunshine Buddy is broken, clean the solar panel to see if it’s still providing electricity. If this fails, take a look here and follow instructions on how to repair solar stuff.

…most people hate them. They can be anywhere. In your bed, in your closets, in your shoes. In some bodyparts. For decades humankind tries to exterminate these creatures because… well just because! And yet they survive, already millions of years.

Luckily, for those who actually LIKE cockroaches, there is the ‘solar cockroach’. YEP! A robotic insect with a tiny solar panel on its back, providing power for the thing to walk. And thats what it does: walking around. No extra features included.

“Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. The name derives from the Greek and Latin names for the insect (Doric Greek: βλάττα, blátta; Ionic and Attic Greek: βλάττη, bláttē; Latin: Blatta).”

I can hear you think: ‘so after an atomic war, we’ll still have cockroaches’. True! Because the REAL cockroach will survive and this bot not, because the sun will be blocked by atomic, radio-active clouds so this poor creature won’t do anything without power.

“Cockroaches are among the hardiest insects on the planet. Some species are capable of remaining active for a month without food and are able to survive on limited resources like the glue from the back of postage stamps. Some can go without air for 45 minutes. In one experiment, cockroaches were able to recover from being submerged underwater for half an hour.”

I wonder if the ‘solar pest control‘ can destroy these solar cockroaches…

You want one?

Get your solar cockroach here: Amazon or eBay

A normal fridge operates on the principal that a boiling liquid takes heat away from its surroundings while it turns into gas. It’s like when you’re sweating: it’ll cools you off. But how to keep your things cool when your outdoors, on a campsite or when electricity isn’t available? Sure, you can buy one of those fridges which run on gas, but they are heavy when you’re a hiker, so best is to make a fridge from a wet towel and a bucket. Oh, and you need the sun of course as the ‘power source’.

Wet towel fridge: absorption refrigeration

Throw some vegetables and other stuff you want to keep cool in a bucket, put it outdoor in an open spot, which lots of sun (I know, sounds crazy! Keep things cool under the sun?!). Wet the towel and put it over the bucket with one end of the towel in a dish of water to soak up the moisture on a constant basis.

Now what happens is the sun heats this wet towel and the water evaporates off, removing heat from the bucket by this evaporation cooling process. You have to re-soak the towel in order to keep your fridge working. It’s the other way round, instead of putting food in the cold (ice, water, etc.), you have to put it in the sun! Amazing isn’t it, though the idea isn’t old and has actually been around for ages, using clay based materials.

DIY fridges in developing countries

Solar fridges are also used in developing countries, where electricity can be unreliable or is non-existent. In these countries they use pot-in-pot refrigerators, also known as Zeers, which keep food cool by using evaporative cooling.

British student Emily Cummins, 21, came up with the idea of redesigning (the Africans used to use two clay jars with a gap in between them rather than metal) this pot-in-pot fridge into a DIY project. It seems that her fridge is now improving the lives of thousands of poverty-stricken Africans and can keep milk and meat cool for days at a temperature of around 6C. Emily’s refrigerator exists of two cylinders: one inside the other. The inner one is made from metal but the outer cylinder can be made from anything, including wood and plastic.

Read more about Emily and her invention: www.dailymail.co.uk or visit her website: www.emilycummins.co.uk

Take a look at this picture for a clear understanding of this principle:

Other types of solar fridges

This solar fridge uses a solar panel and is designed by a Product and Furniture Designer in the UK. It is a portable aid fridge to transport vaccines and medicines. Or what do think of making ice with only the sun as power source? Take a look at this article about how to build a solar icemaker and you’ll be surprised what you can accomplish!

Not really solar powered, I admit…

…but hey, heat is heat. If it comes from the sun or from your feet!

These boots are made for chargin’, and that’s just what they’ll do!

Summertime: not only the season for festivals, it also has become the time for a yearly exhibition of new, innovative and green-minded initiatives. Meet the Orange Power Wellies: use the heat from your feet to keep your mobile devices up and running. So run Forrest. Run! Because everything we do generates power: about 70 watts per step, 1 watt per breath!

Orange Power Wellies

Together with GotWind, Orange created these Power Wellies to target festival-goers with an electricity-generating boot which turns heat from your feet into a current that can be used to charge for example a mobile phone. Only twelve hours of romping at the festival in these thermoelectric wellies will provide enough juice to charge a mobile phone for… one hour! So head over to the dance tent for hotter feet to get that so needed extra charge. At the end of an exhausting day, wearers simply connect their device into the ‘power outlet’ for charging. Read more about these boots on Time.com.

How does this work?

With a thermal diode!

So the more you dance…

To increase the length of time you can charge your phone for, simply run to the dance tent and dance until you drop because the hotter your feet get, the more energy you produce.

But what if you happen to have smelly feet… will it charge faster?? (I hope so!)

Phone charging shoes

Not only Orange, also Argentine designer Soledad Martin came up with the idea of charging devices while in motion. Orange makes use of heat, Martin makes use of kinetic movement with some kind of nano or micro generator to charge cellphone batteries. Kinetic energy is basically transforming movement into electricity. You can attach the charger she made to your shoe and just do whatever you do, as long it involves you moving. Sports, skateboarding, a walk with your dog (maybe attach it to your dog!), the charger will juice op the battery attached to it.

So how does this work? Just like those automatic watches, but then on a bigger scale. Let me explain this with this shaker flashlight. If you shake this flashlight (Faraday’s Principle), a magnet will move up and down through a coil of wire, setting elektrons in motion. Much like a dynamo does but without the turning part.

So after it generates electricity you can either use it directly or store it in a rechargeable battery or in this case a capacitor.

If you tie a shaker flashlight to your leg, you can charge it while walking, skating or running in exactly the same way Soledad Martins charger works.

nPower charging peg

Talking about tying charging things to your leg or shoe, the nPower PEG works in a similar way. This hybrid charging device, which you can put in your bag or tie to your leg, charges energy to an internal battery (5V DC, 500mA) and gives you 2.5 watts of energy to give you power when the batteries of your mobile stuff are low.

There are many kinetic chargers, even in the form of yoyo’s e.g. take a look at this yoyo phone. You can guess how you would charge this. Great gadget!

DIY shake generator phone chargers

There are some people trying to make their own homemade phone charger. Take a look at this DIY kinetic hand phone charger page to find more about how to make a kinetic charger yourself. Or here for a diy solar charger. If you’re more interested in cycling, visit this page about DIY charging USB devices with your bike.

Buy a bicycle charger

Nokia has developed an interesting bicycle charging kit. If you want to buy this Nokia DC-14 bicycle charger, take a look at Amazon or eBay. Its around 60 bucks.

But I digress…. where is the solar power?!

Why don’t my neighbours lock their creatures or tie them to a stake in their own garden!
A question I find myself asking lots of time when I again find poop in my yard… I mean poop from foxes, deers, rabbits and so on, no problem. But from dogs from neighbours, no way. They have to train them properly. But since they don’t do that and blame other neigbours you have to take matters into your own hands. So you can think about a solar powered animal repellent.

There are many different kinds of solar repellents on the market to get rid of unwanted dogs, cats or insects. Some of them for example produce an ultrahigh pitch sound that animals don’t like. Of course these sounds are inaudible to our ears Here is an example of a mole repellent. This ‘Transonic Mole TX-MOLE – Mole and Gopher Chaser Sensory Attack’ from the company bird-x produces vibration and sounds every 20 seconds to annoy those underground creatures.

The Solar Trap

The Solar Trap (developed by Eco Solatec) makes use of a BLB lamp to lure mayflies, mosquitoes, moths and other pests, and then propels them by fan into an inescapable netting. Eminently suitable for agricultural settings as well as recreation areas such as golf course, gardens and parks.

• generates energy by a solar panel
• automatically deactivates when it’s raining, and back on again after
• turns off when temperatures fall below 12 C.
• can be used 8 hours a day
• is fully charged after 5 hours

Where to buy a solar pest and animal repellers

You can buy a solar powered repeller at Amazon or eBay.

Yep! Solar powered flowers! For your desk and car dashboard! Or for your partner! Or just to look at! Or if you don’t know what to give someone…! Or if you want instant relaxation! Or you want to keep your kid quiet for a while!

The Flip Flap dancing flower: you have to have one, simply because it’s completely useless, and that makes it so cute! (I like useless things, I admit…) And someone named them ‘Flip Flaps’. Imagine a board meeting: “Yes boss, we’ve spend several thousands on it and the marketing department came with this: Flip Flaps!“.

“…..The solar powered Flip Flap flower eases your senses and takes you into a calmer world. Simply put your solar powered Flip Flap flower on desk, table, fireplace mantel or the dashboard of your car and it will help you relieve from stress! Speed will adjust to the amount of sun or bulb light it receives.”

Wow indeed!

Where to buy Flip Flap flowers…

You can find the flip flap flower on Amazon or eBay.

Imagine: You are working in a tiny cubicle with no room for live plants. Or instead of a green thumb, yours happens to be… well, not green. But you desperately really, really, really want something green in your work space, then I suppose that you are the consumer for whom this solar-powered-plant-with-moving-leaves-called-a-Flip-Flap was created!

Visit youtube for more solar flower power movies.

So let’s take a look at some features of the Flip Flap solar dancing flower:

Ah, well, the Flip Flap flower in the video is not on some desk, but in front of a window. Seems logical because flowers need sunlight! And this solar powered version is of course not an exception. Though it runs on lightbulbs too!

Who makes the Flip Flap flower?

TOMY from Japan (where it has a big cult following…) distribute this solar toy in the UK, but according to this Flip Flap article on Wikipedia it is originally patented by the ‘Shenzhen Longgang Pinghu‘ company from China. There are lots of ‘fake’ Flip Flap flowers on the market so if you want to make sure you have the original Tomy Flip Flap flower, look for the Tomy logo. Also the text on the box of the original consists of almost only Japanese words and characters. Besides, the leaves are much more darker than the fake ones.

How do they work?

This video explains how the flip flap flower actually work. It works with a magnet and a small current, generated by the solar panel.

Flip Flap flower says no…. broken

Is your special solar plant friend broken? If it’s not working as it should, then probably the magnet is displaced or knocked during shipping or after it fell from the your table. Don’t despair! Geek Girl explains on her blog how she fixed her flip flap flower after it fell on the floor, but you can also take a look on this page where I explain how to fix solar lights.

Specs of the solar powered Flip Flap plant:

• No batteries needed, powered by bulb or solar light
• Leaves move randomly
• Includes a base pad
• Lock the leaves to stop them from flipping and flapping
• No water required – don’t forget –
• Protects the environment by using solar power
• Works indoors & outdoors

Do you have a Flip Flap (…not to be confused with Flip Flop flower pots btw, that’s something completely different…) and want to share your experience? Feel free to write here about your green flapping solar friend and especially how it changed your life!

The Flip Flap Flower is for sale on: Amazon or eBay

Cooking with the power of the sun is pretty old. For centuries people used the sun as heating source to cook food. In the last decades we see more and more effictively made sun ovens for better output. They are used all over the world, in developing countries, and in backyards. And why not? The sun is free! All you have to do is find materials to make your very own enviromentally and wallet friendly oven.

Here are some pics I found from homemade solar ovens. May it inspire you to build your own from whatever you find in your backyard, attic, cellar, garage-sales, junk yards, pawnshops, dumpsters, etc.

So if you want to start with something simple, take a look at this video and get hold of:

• a shoe-box (a black one is even better!)
• aluminium foil
• some (black) tape
• piece of transparant plastic (plexiglass is best, otherwise use some transparent kitchen foil)
• some sunshine
• some patience when you start cooking, frying, baking!

Or make one from an old pizza box! Follow the instructions in this video:

You want it faster, hotter and with more fun? Try building this Satellite dish sun cooker!

Buy ready-made solar cookers

Of course there are also factory made kits available in stores for your garden or if you go hiking, check out Amazon or eBay for solar cookers without the hassle of making one yourself.

Whats your experience with solar cookers, what works best, what didn’t work. There are so many solar models and plans, let me know what you think!

It’s rainy outside… that means no sun to power all the solar toys, stuff, things, chargers, whatever you have on solar power. So what a great opportunity to start building a solar powered toy!

A car for example. Because a solar powered toy car is well… more easy to make then let’s say a solar powered helicopter. You have to begin somewhere, eh? OK, so what do you need?

How to DIY make a solar toy car

Let’s look at the ingredients:

- small solar panel (to be found on Amazon or eBay) 1 to 2 volt is sufficient
- DC motor 1, 2 or 3 volts, around 145mA (hobby motors on: Amazon or eBay)
- some old toy car you smashed to pieces (read:parts) the day before.
- empty water bottle or milk container

You can also use an old CD-player for bits and parts and use a DC motor from an old mobile phone (which causes the phone to vibrate).

Let’s take a look at this vid:

OK, I am pretty sure you can skip the bottle if you a normal toy car to use. But the basic is pretty simple. Heck if you have some old RC car, it would be perfect.

Where to get parts?

So, how much for the parts? There is so much out there, take a look here:
Amazon or eBay

Or take a look at sunsolarwind.com’s webshop with lots of parts and cells.

But strangely enough, some solar kits are cheaper and have more included, like a boat, etc. Take a look here: educational solar kits.

This must definitely be the smallest solar powered toy car I’ve ever seen….. The electric motor is from an old mobile phone!

Check out this Czech website (translated) with lots of pictures of homemade toy cars. This guy even made a car which runs on juice and vinegar!

DIY solar toys

Looking for some inspiration or want to something other than a car, for example a solar powered drum or a solar fountain? Take a look at other DIY solar toys on this website.

This toy car runs on cold water (in a small tank on the left) and the heat of a candle. Due to temperature difference it creates a thermoelectric effect (Peltier effect) to run the electric motor.

Where to buy a solar powered mini toy car…

You can find ready made mini solar toy cars here: Amazon or eBay

Now you have to listen to children running, falling, crying around and mothers running, falling, shouting around. That’s not how you planned it. That’s not your kind of music. The sun is still shining though… But then again…

Well no worries! Here’s a nice gadget you can use on the beach, in the park, on campsites: your own, mobile solar charger!

I especially like this one: My Solar Buddy.

The Solar Buddy charges cell phones, iPhones, iPods/MP3 players, portable gaming devices, digital cameras, GPS units, PDA’s, almost ANY small device!

Find iPhone solar chargers in the following shops

Amazon or eBay

These solar toys are actually very interesting and ideal for exploring the fundamentals of solar power. Most kits are easy to connect and fun to experiment with.

These sun powered toy kits teach about environmentally friendly energy and some basic mechanical skills. Heck, you can even teach your kids the principles of air displacement and motion. See also my post about homemade stirling engines.

Learn to build a simple circuit and see solar power in action!

New and envirmental ideas are best spread by children and with these sun powered kits, it can make education fun and it will teach them something about solar energy and our environment.

Want to buy toy solar kits?

Check out: Amazon or eBay

The sun heats the water in the black-painted tank on top. After showering, you only have to refill the tank with for example the garden hose and the sun will do its job again for the next day!

The above shower is made from an old water heater tank. Strip the tank down and paint it pitch-black.

The above shower is also very nice. It only requires one hour to ‘heat up’ and you can shower! It’s from the Swiss company Fizz: www.solarshower.ch

If you want it more simple, buy a black water bag and let it lie in the sun for a couple of hours and hang it in a tree.

Where can I buy factory made solar showers?

Buy factory made solar showers at Amazon or eBay

You know IKEA had some time ago (…and actually still have, but they are sold out quickly) very nice solar lights for outside. I bought a couple of those fairy lights. Inside are LEDs and they give pretty good light I must say… Don’t forget to put the panels in the sun. I did…. and the neighbours weren’t too happy about our nice blinking walnut tree! Because that’s what they do when they are not charged fully: they blink! Blink! Blink! Also nice if you want an out-door dance floor But they also blink when your batteries fail to charge properly, or the solar panels are dirty.

Solar lights failing: flashing and blinking

Unfortunately it’s quite normal to see a decline in performance after one or two years after purchase and the fairy lights start blinking. First you have to clean the solar panel(s) and see if that will solve the problem. Dust and other residues have a bad affect on charging. If that doesn’t help, and your solar lights keep flashing or don’t work at all, open the battery compartment and replace the rechargeable batteries with new ones, because the included cells are usually the main cause of failure.

Replace batteries

If you’re not sure if your lights are still working, replace the old rechargeable solar batteries with normal batteries or fully charged batteries from another device (somewhere on the unit is a little panel with some little screws, this is usually the battery cover). Turn the device on and cover the solar panel(s) with your hand or some paper, this will trigger the lights to burn. If the lights turn on and are more bright and not blinking, then you have to replace the original included batteries. Usually these are AA or AAA rechargeable batteries which can be found anywhere. For a picture what to expect, visit this article I wrote about sun jars.

Of course you can always order batteries through Amazon or eBay.

Some people choose to replace them directly after buying solar products, because usually the factory ones are of poor quality and you get better power (light) output when you replace them with better ones. If you replace them with NiMH batteries with a high mA (milliampere) of around 2000 or more, they will have a longer lifespan.

solar garden lights

Where to order and buy solar garden lights

If you want to buy new solar powered garden lights, take a look on Amazon or eBay