Introduction: Solar Powered Night Lights

About: I like to tinker and experiment with electronics, robotics, programming, and photography. Along with my latest interest in Steampunk.

Do something useful with your solar powered garden light. Instead of lighting up the garden path at night for that opossium raiding the trash, bring the light into the house. Use it as a solar powered night light.

I mounted two garden lights on the roof with wire extensions of the leds brought into the house. Just the solar cell unit with built-in batteries are on the roof. The led (Light-Emitting-Diode) that makes the light is in the house. The solar lights are mounted on top of a swamp cooler on my roof with the wiring brought through the vent.

Step 1: Mount the Solar Lights

Use 1 inch PVC tubing to make a holder for the lights. This is what the light holder looks like after construction and mounted on the cooler. But first, go get your saw and start cutting some tubing. The next step will show you how.

Step 2: Make the Light Stand

Cut two pieces of 1 inch PVC tubing, each one foot long. Join in the middle with an elboe. Use two more elboes on the end to support the up right post (black posts included in 4 pak) for the lights. I used two lights from a 4 pak at Home Depot. Hampton Bay # 498-959 on sale at the time for $16. The black upright posts fit in the elboe perfectly.

Step 3: Remove LEDs

Remove LEDs from the lights and attach to a twisted pair of wires long enough to go down the vent into your house. I used a small connector attached to a short pair of wires coming from the light. Then connect to your longer pair. Doing so will make disconnection for servicing easy. You can use a pair of wirenuts instead of the connector.

Step 4: Attach LED

Attach the led to a connector or a short lenght of a twisted pair of wires. This is installed inside your house were you want your night light. I mounted my leds just poking out the vent inside the hallway of my house. Wirenuts instead of a connector can be used to connect the mounted leds to the wires brought down from the solar lights. Led is shown with short leads connected to a connector. The heat shrink tubing is unshrinked to show assembly.

Step 5: Night Light Is On

Solar Night Light (my webpage)Now when the sun goes down, the led will light up inside your house. I used two lights to make two night lights. You can use just one if you like. You can also place leds in other areas of the home.