Solar pendant light teardown

Video Description

Why use just one microcontroller when you can use two. It's clear that this is a modular design where the panel can just control a simple light or something with more features like this one. But there's a compromise. It means that the light defaults to on and half intensity at dusk and probably runs until dawn, or until the day's solar energy in the lithium cell is depleted. This could be nice in an outdoor conservatory or greenhouse though. The cell capacity has been tested and is 1000mAh. In late afternoon sunshine the solar panel managed a respectable 150mA. There is the potential to upgrade the cell capacity, but unless you live somewhere with high levels of sunshine it won't make much difference. When powered from a bench power supply at 4V via its cable and at its default 50% intensity, the current is 250mA. At the low setting the current is 125mA and at full intensity it's 500mA. At 3V the current is 25, 50 and 100mA at the low medium and high settings. So the light will get dimmer as the lithium cell discharges, but that will prolong the run time too. The nicest bit of this light is probably the pendant with reflector. It could even be adapted for use with a 5V system if you increased the value of the resistors. This unit came from an eBay seller a while ago, but I think it would be better to buy it directly from one of the Chinese retail websites like AliExpress and others. If you enjoy my videos, you can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. This also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!) I release content for critique and feedback on Patreon as soon as it has been made. https://www.patreon.com/bigclive Alternatively, for a single contribution you can use PayPal:- https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigclive #ElectronicsCreators