- A basic solar garden light. Image by Fire Engine Red via Flickr
Using a homemade solar light is a convenient way to illuminate a part of your home without adding to your monthly energy bill. This is ideal for spaces which have enough sunlight during the day. At night the light will automatically turn on, to illuminate that part of your home.
However, although this might seem like a good idea at first, it does have its disadvantages. When used indoors, the charge doesn’t seem to be enough to keep the LED on once darkness falls. And one LED is not enough to provide sufficient light. It is more practical to stick to commercial solar lights.
But making a homemade solar light is a good way of teaching your kids about how solar energy works. This is a perfect family project to do with them. This simple project can give them an understanding of the value of solar energy.
What you need for a homemade solar light is the following:
- One glass jar
- A solar garden light
- Rechargeable battery
- Tracing paper
The glass jar must be made of clear glass because this is where you’ll be placing the solar panels. You will not require special tools for this project – just a screwdriver and a utility knife. When working with kids, be sure it keep the knife away from them.
Now here’s the fun part that I’m sure most kids will love.
1. The first step is to get the solar garden light and carefully take it apart. What we need from it are the solar panels, the charge controller, and the LED light. But if you don’t the idea of ripping apart a perfectly working device to salvage its parts, you can purchase a small solar panel, a light sensor, and an LED from specialty electronic shops. You might need to have a little knowledge of electronics in order to assemble it.
2. Now open your glass jar and place the components in it, with the solar panels on the cover facing outwards. You can secure the parts by using hot glue. Then cut a strip of tracing paper and place it at the sides of the glass jar. The kids can draw on the tracing paper. An alternative to this is to use glass frosting spray. Once you’re done, gently place the jar cover with care.
3. Now place your homemade solar light near a window, or, if possible, outdoors, so as to get maximum exposure to the sun. This would be perfect for camping as well.
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great blog and a wonderful idea, i printed it out so my daughter and i can do the project this weekend!
thanks!
This sounds like a good one to get people started. Do you have any recommendations on where to get solar panels from? I’ve never seen any in shops – other than ones for the roof. I’d also imagine there is a big difference in the quality of panels. Are there any good brands and/or materials?
@greg t That’s great, I would love to hear how it goes.
i bought these and they work really well. i also bought some for my garden. they accent it really well with the flower design
This sound like a fun sunday project. I have the same problem with indoor solar lights too. I sed to leave my inddor lights outside during sunny says and bring them inside in the evenings but after a while I got lazy and stopped doing it. I’ll give this a go though, it looks like fun.
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Very cool idea!!! I can’t wait until my son gets home from school so we could try it. My son is 5, a great age to teach him these things! We love doing projects together! Keep the ideas and projects coming! Thanks!!!
Hey am I glad I found your blog my youngest child is doing a survey for school projects and solar energy is the theme. I will be printing this out and give it to him to show his teacher.One thing I was surprised about was LED use very little electricity so am surprise you didn’t get it working properly indoors,perhaps the battery was not 100% serviceable so could not hold a full charge.