The vast majority of batteries that come with your solar yard lights are the same physical SHAPE as a AA, but they are NOT AA batteries. They are typically 3.2V Lithium Ion Phosphate, not 1.2V Ni-Cd or Lithium Ion batteries.
So when you buy your yard lights, look at the battery type, its voltage, and its storage rating (most come with 300 to 400mAh batteries). There ARE Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries out there, in the AA form-factor, that are up to 600mAh, which will give you longer run time assuming you have long enough (and intense enough) daylight hours to fully charge them. Also, don't go cheap on your lights... Westinghouse and other name brands will probably charge 600mAh batteries efficiently (due to having a well-made solar cell), while the garbage you buy at places like Harbor Freight (for under $15 per light) is never going to fully charge the batteries they come with, much less higher-capacity batteries.
So remember to do your homework. If you don't know much about basic electricity, ask a friend who does. Don't bash products that you bought to replace a completely different item.
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After reading the reviews, I decided to take a chance on these batteries for my solar path lighting. I installed them and absolutely nothing happened. They did not charge up at all. I tried to contact the manufacturer to see if there was anything I was missing that might affect charging them, but the website only dealt with the electronics part of the company. The original batteries in my solar lights worked fine, (Seattle area weather not withstanding) so I don't know why these batteries wouldn't charge. After contacting Amazon about it, I decided to return them.Best Deals for Paradise BA25115 Rechargeable Solar AA 900mAH Batteries, 4-Pack
I bought three 4 packs of these batteries for my outdoor lights about three months ago. I will admit that I bought them purely based on price. With the exception of the other really cheap Tenergy batteries sold in bulk here on Amazon, these are the cheapest I have found anywhere. (The Tenergys had some really bad reviews). They certainly are way cheaper than anything I could find at the local big home stores, like Lowes and Home Depot. Although its only been about three months since I have been using these, its also true that I replaced all of the old batteries and there are currently 8 lights now using them. The report card so far shows that with the single exception of two lights, the other ones have been charging and holding a good solid light most of the night following a bright day. No doubt about it, two of the batteries, (one in each light that failed) would not hold a charge for long. One other light was fading after a while, but cleaning the contacts inside the light itself turned out to solve the problem. Personally for the price I paid I don't think that's too bad. One thing I have learned about cheaper batteries here on Amazon is that it turns out to be a hit and miss proposition as to quality control in most cases. That is, a small percentage of the batteries either arrive dead, low powered, or just seem to die sooner than better quality ones. That is certainly the down side. The up side is that in a lot of cases the price on certain batteries can be so low that even with an occasional dud, they still come out to be worth the investment. And these Paradise batteries are in my opinion just that cheap, and that much worth it. This rational of course is certainly up for grabs as to being financially sound, or a complete waste of your time and money, but for me the cash I have saved on these batteries, (especially when bundled for the free shipping) was well worth it. They come out to about half of what I would pay locally, even when figuring in the occasional dead beat. Of course I'll let you decide if they are worth it for you, but personally I find them a smart deal, and recommend them...PS: I came across some Portfolio brand batteries at the local Lowes today that go for about $9.00 for a 4 pack as of the time of this writing. I don't know how reliable they are, but fair is fair, thought I'd just mention it...
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