Mark Hamade

Part of the ongoing savings of using solar lighting is a lower utility bill, which is made possible because the lights draw their power from storage batteries. Most solar lights use AA Ni-Cad rechargeable batteries, which can last a couple of years before you have to replace them. But in order to get the best value for your rechargeable batteries, here are some helpful tips.

1. Buy the right capacity for your solar collector.
Rechargeable batteries come in a variety of capacities because different fixtures put out different amounts of light or are designed to illuminate for longer periods of time. But the solar panel output needs to be high enough to fully charge a high capacity battery. So don’t think you will automatically get more hours of light from buying a larger one. Buy the size that is recommended by the manufacturer for your fixture.

2. Buy spare solar batteries.
Although you may think it’s an unnecessary additional expense,  it’s smart to keep a spare set of charged batteries on hand. Even with chargers that are super fast, it will still take a couple of hours to recharge a battery. And you don’t want to have to sit around on a dark patio in the middle of your party waiting for batteries to charge. It’s much simpler to keep a spare set ready for whenever you need them

3. Buy a battery tester.
Some of the recharging stations have built-in battery testers. But if yours doesn’t, it’s a good idea to buy a separate one. The reason is simple. If you think you put a fully charged battery into your solar light fixture and it wasn’t fully charged, you won’t have the power you think you have. This may not seem like an important issue, but if your solar lighting is part of your security system than reliability is crucial. Having your solar light go dark because you thought the battery had plenty of available charge, is a nightmare that can easily be avoided by simply using a battery tester.