Five Solar Garden Light Upcycle Ideas

The sun is the greatest source of renewable energy we have and solar garden lights are a dime a dozen. So its no wonder, more and more people are finding useful second lives for these innocuous contraptions. Here are five amazing do-it-yourself projects that turn ordinary solar garden lights into cool eco-friendly gadgets you'll use everyday.

Before getting started, check out this great solar yard light deconstruction tutorial from Marshal Brian, founder of Howstuffworks.com, which clearly illustrates the parts, functions, and inner workings of a typical solar garden light.

1. Solar Powered USB Ipod/Cell Phone Charger

This Instructable shows how surprisingly simple it is to make a solar battery charger from very simple components. If you are looking for something universal, check out the video below from WonderHowTo.com showing how to turn an ordinary solar garden light into a renewable energy backup system for today's power hungry cell phones, Ipods, and gaming gadgets.

2. Bottle the Sun's renewable energy

Jam jars store jam, the Sun Jar collects and stores sunshine so that you can use it at night or to recharge batteries. Check out the Sun Jar from Suck.uk.com, then head over to Instructables for a step-by-step on how to bottle your own. If you have solar path lights and live in a cold climate where they don't get much use in the winter, this is an easy and efficient way to keep rechargeable batteries topped off and well maintained while not in use.

3. Architectural and decorative lighting

This is a simple thing you can do with a set of solar path lights to turn them into portable lanterns or retrofit existing outdoor lamp posts to use renewable energy. Here is another idea that uses the solar light circuit to suck every last bit of energy out of otherwise dead alkaline batteries before disposal. Makes a great night light.





4. Sports equipment

This simple project converts two solar garden lites and some PVC into a pocket sized LED solar powered lamps that can be used as a night/comfort light or reading lamp. The finished lamp is water proof, will float and will last virtually forever, making them great for camping. Modify a solar garden walkway light into a solar powered bike light that charges during day riding and can be turned on at night!

5. Renewable Energy Power Plant

This is a Solar Power Plant made from recycled parts. It is a work in progress that started at the landfill where you'll find all kinds of interesting electronics gadgets ready to be harvested for project parts. The cells charge a 12V car battery which is used to supply 120V through an off-the shelf inverter for light loads. Makes an excellent power supply for laptops, lights, or radios during power outs. Use it run an outdoor lighting system or plug it into this universal charger and turn in those crappy chargers that came with your gadgets for a more environmentally friendly, cheaper solution.

Winter is a good time to hunt for bargains on solar lights. When shopping for a solar garden light its a good idea to look for ones that have two or more AA Ni-Cad batteries and a photo resistor for detecting darkness. More batteries generally means the circuit can provide higher output for your projects and a photo resistor will allow you to incorporate light sensing into your gadgets if needed.

There are so many ways to hack a solar light and I've only mentioned a few. In an upcoming post I'll take a look at some additional ideas of incorporating solar lights with other off the shelf items to create even more interesting, functional, and eco-friendly gadgets. Thanks for stopping by.

5 L.E.D. Projects Sure To Enlighten

As a Canadian I’m reluctant to admit we use more energy per capita than any other nation in the world and although we have plenty of cheap, renewable electricity, it’s wasteful, both in cost to the environment and the family’s budget. It’s true we’ve been making the switch to compact fluorescent (CFLs) from incandescent bulbs, but they still cost more than standard bulbs and contain mercury which is an environmental concern if not disposed off properly.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, however, uses a fraction of energy compared to conventional incandescent or even CFLs. They last up to 50,000 hours, compared to 6,000 for a CFL or 1,000 for standard incandescent bulbs. LEDs convert more electricity into light, with very little waste heat produced, making them the most efficient lighting technology available on the market. Here are five eco friendly ideas with step-by-step instructions that shine a light on LED technology.

PEI is Going Green

Cresting the Confederation Bridge onto PEI, one realizes they are entering a different place and senses even a different time. Rising cliffs of rich red clay scared by relentless sea and wind rise up from the Atlantic into fog settling over the vast rolling farmland island. Boat loads of lobster head back to the fishing villages and lighthouses dotting the distant coastline. The long forgotten smell of earth and sea carry on the wild winds. There are no expressways or skyscrapers, sub-ways or public transportation systems, yet this little province manages to lead the way in Green initiatives despite size and location.

Prince Edward Island’s wind farm at North Cape is able to supply almost 6% of PEI’s annual electricity usage and research is underway into creating a hydrogen village that will convert unused energy from the wind farm into hydrogen and store it for future use. PEI wants to raise its wind energy to 15 percent by 2010.

The Government of PEI has developed a unique approach to waste management. In fact, PEI is the first to have a province wide waste source separation system. In 2003, PEI’s wastewatch.ca program recorded an incredible 65% diversion rate. PEI banned non-refillable soft drink bottles way back in 1977, and soft drink cans in 1984. Today, the return rate on Prince Edward Island’s soft drink and beer containers stands at close to 98 percent. This is the highest in North America.

Cities, businesses, and citizens of PEI have started to embraced green technologies and are realizing the advantages of eco-friendly approach on their pocket books as well. The city of Charlottetown uses renewable energy technologies such as biomass-fired district energy systems that provide steam to its 64 customers and 84 buildings. To do this, roughly one million litres of hot water are distributed through special, Danish-built, thin-wall steel inner piping, which is encased in foam insulation with an outer steel casing. The hot water is distributed from the Charlottetown District Energy Plant at 85°–120°C, and it returns at 70°–90°C. Thermal losses from the system are very small relative to the amount of heat being transported to all the end users.

Individuals like my friend Dan Viau installed and operates an outdoor wood furnace behind the toy factory adjacent to his house. Dan supplements about 20 cords of wood annually with waste from the toy shop and is able to keep his home, factory and shop heated throughout the cold PEI winters at significant savings to his wallet and the environment.

There are concerns however, as PEI residents rely exclusively on groundwater for their drinking water and nitrate levels are high due to farming practices. One in five wells tested displayed nitrate levels above Health Canada regulations. A joint federal study showed that if farmers in the watersheds stopped using fertilizers today, it could take 20 years for nitrates to come down to a normal level. Interestingly, before the turn of the century, lobster bodies were used as fertilizer due to their low market value and abundance at the time!