18650 solar charged light modification using used laptop batteries.

Of all of my projects this is one of the the most useful to me.    I opened up one of the motion detecting lights  ( found at dollar store less than $10.00  )    Then I soldered on clip leads and I charge up used 18650 with a $1.00 charging board from China.     I can put this light anywhere and it auto comes on / off as I move into the room,  The battery came out of old used laptop batteries.     Since it only comes on when it is dark battery life on these is weeks at a time.     Since I have extra 18650 I can swap out the battery and always have a spare.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-USB-Lithium-Li-ion-18650-Battery-Charger-Module-Charging-Board-Protection/123275109046?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item1cb3c4e2b6:g:794AAOSwZZ5avwFO&enc=AQAEAAACUBPxNw%2BVj6nta7CKEs3N0qUuravVpJAGSc6300EvZd30b2j6%2Fv5C0O8C%2BMM3CM6tzH5Noi12uwZKAtsl7fc8Gw5%2BAlU8lhOYx1Y1wS0R41UlhwDnmIH2fMnkZYLPTYVgDnpFiPjLAe2b38Yv%2BAZaskt2IZUEGa0ct9LfFm4GsburHD6hdk3sRw4HDWhqLiE0ou8Bi9jQxsewwWsiDjdM6SPPj6%2BBv6trvj3H6K23MxmXrYuBal7nnrshcPTdBweZnRnOe1tRgSOg7pZXAPu6qR3Me2ATyV9nmxWvYQwA4N1wx6j0Uc0wN5aBHRJYFPwIbw2TiPuld3iZ5t9GKi5SpEMbYhB8%2B17s%2B%2BovI0X%2FJNsdarCP07ZdqJb6cfd%2FBnfWGTF9kIxNJxaWiimBxVJ%2Fw612KsmFBieKsazCyyMkaxHmIxf2Mv%2FPacjxAC%2F%2B1PzwR6GJ4rEh23U7tXkLGiqWOcHn2mq71f76b9WrjOXAy4e%2BI%2FPCafO9PYxqhv4CzcCmUeGzO0b4Mk5LmGfX8ixgNkBLHXdmqL%2BI4GyliWa%2FwX8IRVk%2BQISHFUOUz7X1Bfdf9ph%2FlsbiRUZbuIZBxt%2BYi9Lpt0zbqA0Ji2tpFyau7jpCqldNJHg6dTdzMMvDRz4OgfwI%2FJj%2BkLDSoRyWev7bUZxUgzQLzDUSyR2gXsjBwfcyAXhh%2BgH5AN%2Ffk7iRZqAM3zZtMA4rofhcLs6xDXpNDL9STIeb0UjgibaqhTa9P6CpjZJbHParJwZJLRJyK4Cwfw8h4S4AUsMZzpOSCeVGz2A%3D&checksum=1232751090461aefea2b969049de8797e4baf19b9b90&enc=AQAEAAACUBPxNw%2BVj6nta7CKEs3N0qUuravVpJAGSc6300EvZd30b2j6%2Fv5C0O8C%2BMM3CM6tzH5Noi12uwZKAtsl7fc8Gw5%2BAlU8lhOYx1Y1wS0R41UlhwDnmIH2fMnkZYLPTYVgDnpFiPjLAe2b38Yv%2BAZaskt2IZUEGa0ct9LfFm4GsburHD6hdk3sRw4HDWhqLiE0ou8Bi9jQxsewwWsiDjdM6SPPj6%2BBv6trvj3H6K23MxmXrYuBal7nnrshcPTdBweZnRnOe1tRgSOg7pZXAPu6qR3Me2ATyV9nmxWvYQwA4N1wx6j0Uc0wN5aBHRJYFPwIbw2TiPuld3iZ5t9GKi5SpEMbYhB8%2B17s%2B%2BovI0X%2FJNsdarCP07ZdqJb6cfd%2FBnfWGTF9kIxNJxaWiimBxVJ%2Fw612KsmFBieKsazCyyMkaxHmIxf2Mv%2FPacjxAC%2F%2B1PzwR6GJ4rEh23U7tXkLGiqWOcHn2mq71f76b9WrjOXAy4e%2BI%2FPCafO9PYxqhv4CzcCmUeGzO0b4Mk5LmGfX8ixgNkBLHXdmqL%2BI4GyliWa%2FwX8IRVk%2BQISHFUOUz7X1Bfdf9ph%2FlsbiRUZbuIZBxt%2BYi9Lpt0zbqA0Ji2tpFyau7jpCqldNJHg6dTdzMMvDRz4OgfwI%2FJj%2BkLDSoRyWev7bUZxUgzQLzDUSyR2gXsjBwfcyAXhh%2BgH5AN%2Ffk7iRZqAM3zZtMA4rofhcLs6xDXpNDL9STIeb0UjgibaqhTa9P6CpjZJbHParJwZJLRJyK4Cwfw8h4S4AUsMZzpOSCeVGz2A%3D&checksum=1232751090461aefea2b969049de8797e4baf19b9b90

That's good information to know about these charging boards.  It looks like you can just stick a power bank attached to it and that'll keep it charged for the rest of the year?

Also, I bought one of these lights from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32831628921.html



The 18650 battery just pops out.  So, if you had two of these you can just swap the batteries out when the one in use goes flat, and replace it with one that has been solar charged

Looks like that charging board can be got for 28c at Aliexpress https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33013554579.html

Graham Chiu wrote:That's good information to know about these charging boards.  It looks like you can just stick a power bank attached to it and that'll keep it charged for the rest of the year?

I imagine,   I have considered drilling a hole from each room outside and running a separate solar panel to a charge controller inside so I would not have to think about it anymore, it would just charge and run.


I now have 3 of these systems hooked up and charging with them,  I like having backup  power to the grid that just keeps on working.