Comments: Soil moisture-sensing by hacking a solar light
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Finding the yx8018 spec took some time. So might as well post it here for others (with the way to auto-translate. Go Google!) ...
Original shiningic.com website translated
Nice hack. Will use it in our raised-beds.
Hi Sarah,
Great hack!
The solar cell directly connected across the battery will discharge the battery at night because in the absence of light, it acts as a load. A blocking diode on one of the terminals of the solar panel will prevent that, unless it is already built into the solar panel. Given the minimal cost of the fixture, I doubt if a blocking diode is built in.
Good luck! -Murali
Thank you! Yeah, that is a good point that needs to be looked at when building, I didn't see mine doing that, so I assumed there was a diode built in, but there might not be for other lights, and I might have made a bad assumption. So that would be a good thing to check when building yours, and possibly putting that diode in if needed.