StarHalo
Flashaholic
New for this year, Philips has introduced solar-powered LED Christmas lights:
Though I'm not entirely a fan of LED Christmas lights, I do like the idea of Christmas lights that don't have to be plugged in or attached to anything else; my wife picked these up at Target for the listed $19.99 price. The unbox:
Included are the lights permanently attached to the solar panel, a stake and pole for mounting the panel, and the single-sheet instructions.
The panel is only a few inches in area, note the Fenix P1 for comparison.
The lights themselves are ~3mm units with a cylindrical package and concave end. There is no housing or cover over the LED.
As with most non-"power" LEDs, the light output is only about locator/indicator level brightness, and the cylindrical package means how bright each LED looks varies greatly depending on how it's angled.
My "install"; I've decided against using the stake/pole and have just set the solar panel on the ground - the lights are on the tree, but camouflage nicely thanks to their small size.
I've had the panel out/charging since 11AM, full sunset will be around 5PM, I will update then..
Update:
(The orange ambient light in the image is a nearby streetlight. The image is deliberately underexposed to look closest to what the eye actually sees.)
They look pretty much the way you'd expect 3mm LEDs in a tree to look - not all that notable. One upshot is that they make the LED lights on the house look a little brighter, but note how bright the tree in the window looks in the image; that tree has standard incandescent Christmas bulbs on it, and they outshine any LED anywhere in the picture..
I'm not sure what the ideal application for these could be; maybe a small indoor tree next to a window, as long as the tree is in a dark room and you're not expecting anyone outside to see it. Like any other LED Christmas lights, the colors are vibrant, but the size and brightness just isn't there.
Another Update:
It looks like we're going to do some abuse testing, since the temps outside have fallen below freezing; that can't be good for a LiPo cell. And next week, rain and snow is in the forecast..
Though I'm not entirely a fan of LED Christmas lights, I do like the idea of Christmas lights that don't have to be plugged in or attached to anything else; my wife picked these up at Target for the listed $19.99 price. The unbox:
Included are the lights permanently attached to the solar panel, a stake and pole for mounting the panel, and the single-sheet instructions.
The panel is only a few inches in area, note the Fenix P1 for comparison.
The lights themselves are ~3mm units with a cylindrical package and concave end. There is no housing or cover over the LED.
As with most non-"power" LEDs, the light output is only about locator/indicator level brightness, and the cylindrical package means how bright each LED looks varies greatly depending on how it's angled.
My "install"; I've decided against using the stake/pole and have just set the solar panel on the ground - the lights are on the tree, but camouflage nicely thanks to their small size.
I've had the panel out/charging since 11AM, full sunset will be around 5PM, I will update then..
Update:
(The orange ambient light in the image is a nearby streetlight. The image is deliberately underexposed to look closest to what the eye actually sees.)
They look pretty much the way you'd expect 3mm LEDs in a tree to look - not all that notable. One upshot is that they make the LED lights on the house look a little brighter, but note how bright the tree in the window looks in the image; that tree has standard incandescent Christmas bulbs on it, and they outshine any LED anywhere in the picture..
I'm not sure what the ideal application for these could be; maybe a small indoor tree next to a window, as long as the tree is in a dark room and you're not expecting anyone outside to see it. Like any other LED Christmas lights, the colors are vibrant, but the size and brightness just isn't there.
Another Update:
It looks like we're going to do some abuse testing, since the temps outside have fallen below freezing; that can't be good for a LiPo cell. And next week, rain and snow is in the forecast..
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