$3 solar flashlights

[Zac]

It's only $3 including shipping and includes a rechargeable lithium ion battery (that will hold its charge much longer than nicd or nimh types):

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19827

The inside:

It's pretty basic, no charge control or low battery shutoff circuit. (Avoid discharging the battery completely for longest life.) There is just a blocking diode (not sure if it's just an ordinary one or a high efficiency schottky type) for the solar panel, the small lithium ion battery, 3 LEDs, and an on/off switch.

[Possibilities]

Re: $3 solar flashlights

Thanks Zac,

I've been looking for some solar flashlights. I bought some cheap windup ones in case we have many cloudy days. These are the cheapest I've seen.

Thanks also for contributing especially your article on a much larger scale solar backup generator. We'll need to have something like that to operate a small community hospital someday (for 40-50 patients).