# Solar Charging small batteries; AA, AAA, etc



## Lamar (Oct 13, 2011)

For years I've wanted to charge AAs, etc with solar. It seems, now, that the batteries are beginning to be worth the effort (amp hours and # of charges, ex. NiMH eneloop). 
So now my question is what kind of charging setup do I get.
Theres alot of stuff out there. 
The most recent charger I looked at is a La Crosse BC 1000 and I would get an inverter to run it.
Is there a good charger that works off DC, or a charge controller that I could build a system around? Is one of the high dollar AC smart chargers the way to go?
Looking for actual feet in the dookey testimonials, including the DO NOT do it this way ones.
TIA
Lamar.


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## lonestarbugout (Jan 25, 2013)

Lamar, be sure you electronics will work on NiMh . NiMh has a lower cell voltage than. alkaline. I have two led flashlights, a camera and a gps that think the batteries are dead due to the lower cell voltage. This is especially true for devices that stack batteries in series. For new devices be sure they will work with NiMh. In general I think NiMh are s great idea. Luck!


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

If you have a 12 v.d.c. system of some sort set up, there's a lot of chargers that will work. Think car charger..

This is the one I use. I cut the cord from the wall wart and connect to my battery. Just make sure the polarity is correct..

http://compare.ebay.com/like/170868958698?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

You can use solar lights to recharge NiCad batteries.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

Mid Tn Mama said:


> You can use solar lights to recharge NiCad batteries.


Some of the new solar lights have the shorter battery in them so the "regular" battery will not go in it.


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## doingitmyself (Jul 30, 2013)

^^^True enough^^^ however one can always run leads from the contacts on the solar lights to an external pack with regular batteries and still charge em up if needed, i do that on two of my garden lites to increase run time as i have larger batteries to run the lites all nite. Easier to see the rabbits that eat my garden.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

There is some solar chargers available ----that seem decent-----
Advantage to these is that they are using much larger solar panels then found in a "yard light" so there fore they should charge up bats faster than a "yard light"
Yes the good question is . .which of these are china junk . . . . and which are reasonable . . ?????


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

I use one similar to this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-AA-Ba...ery_Chargers&hash=item4611a9e11a#ht_88wt_1173

Works OK and usually has a pair of batteries charged in 2 to 4 hours.

WWW


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