Fixxxr: Do you have a completed schematic of your project. That seems to be applicable in a project that I'm working on. I'm converting a standard 'Malibu' landscape light kit from incandescent bulbs to LEDs and I'm building a solar battery charger / power source for the lights. My system will have two states, charge - when a photocell determines there is enough energy to store in the battery and run - when it's dark or rainy and the solar charger will be switched off and the lights will be switched on.

Thanks,

N5EMX

 

We ask that new questions get posted into their own threads to avoid confusion. This thread - http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=10681&page=2 - that you posted in is a year old.

 

Photovoltaic cells produce a fairly flat open circuit voltage if they have 200W/m^2 or more. This makes them a dandy choice for charging batteries. Open circuit current from the cells will be proportional to the light falling on them.

By sizing the PV array appropriately, (not more than maximum battery charge voltage) and adding a blocking diode to prevent the battery from reverse-biasing the PV, you can forgo a charge controller.

The circuits in the link provided by Mik3 in the other thread will adequately handle you switching: http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/PhotoDetectors.html

 

just so I can prevent this in the future how do I ask a question about an old thread? Do I simply start a new question and provide a link in the body to the old thread or is there a preferred method. I'm only here to get and share knowledge and it appears that I have immediately offended a couple of people. I sincerely apologize, I only need some clarification so I can correct any future communications.

Sincerely,

Eric Martin, N5EMX

 

That would do it. Refering to older thread that apply is always a good idea, if nothing else it preempt others from doing so.