PV Gap

Roy Said:

Replace NiCd batteries with NiMH in solar garden lights?

We Answered:

That is correct. A solar garden light is one of the few places that NiCd does better than NiMH. First of all, NiCd takes the heat better. Second, the NiMH optimally needs a train of high current pulses to charge, even if the average current is low. NiCd can be trickle charged, which is a very simple connection to a solar cell. Some newer solar lights have an electronic circuit in them to do the pulse charging for NiMH, but if the light came with NiCd, it likely does not have this circuit.