Solar Powered Rainbow Maker

This joins the radiometer and 4" prism as one of the basic sun toys that everyone should have. It's a fun design with a transparent case, exposed motor, different colored gears, and counter rotating crystals. It looks to be quite well made, and I was pleased to find that its large built-in suction cup does a good job. Up close you hear a little whirring sound (not objectionable) from the motor and high speed gear, but from across the room it runs silently. Its speed doesn't vary with the intensity of the light, it either runs or it doesn't run. Occasionally it will click for a few seconds as the shadow of the sun passes over it. I saw one reviewer who said the single crystal unit worked fine, but the double unit was underpowered and would barely rotate in bright sunlight. I don't find that to be the case at all, mine rotates even when the sun is partial obscured by clouds. As I write, it is late on a winter afternoon in New England with the sun low in the sky at 60 degrees off perpendicular, and my double unit is still running. I experimented and found it would even run when the solar cells were illuminated from the back! Minor negatives --- Compared to the one big bright solar spectrum a 4" prism will throw on the wall, the spectrums from this thing are pretty small and dim, though the compensation is that there are many of them and they sweep around the room. When the sun is at the right angle, you have to expect that some of these 'rainbows' are going to pass over your eye, so you get a little flash now and then. It's more complicated than a prism or radiometer, so it's probably not going to live as long. For those interested technically its solar panel is 4 cm x 2.5 cm = 10^-3 m^2 and looks to be five (1/2 V) cells in series. Since the power of bright sunlight is 1,000 w/m^2, if inexpensive solar cells with efficiency in the 5% to 10% range are used, the output power available to drive the DC motor would be 50 to 100 mw, or 20 to 40 ma @ 2.5V. update --- It's now nine months since I put this on a window using the vacuum sucker and it's never fallen off! Still works fine too. update2 --- Well after two years, it's showing its age. One crystal broke off when it fell and the gears are now sticking. I just ordered a replacement. More technical--- When my new one arrived, I took apart my old one to look at the motor, which still works. (I am a motor control engineer.) The motor is not a DC motor with brushes, which is good as brushes wear out. It is a brushless AC PM (permanent magnet) motor that a finger test shows will spin in either direction (at roughly 200 RPM). The 2.5V from the solar cell is converted to AC by a tiny circuit board mounted above the coil. The board's active component(s) is covered by glop, but it is probably a single IC clocked by an external crystal, which seems like overkill.

I love this thing. It makes me and my daughter so happy when it’s starts spinning. I saw some comments on here saying theirs is broken. It must be in windows facing/direct sunlight for it to work. It’s solar powered but not a rechargeable battery, so it only works when the sun is shining right on the plate. If it’s indirect at all the gears will slow down and stop spinning.

I wasn't sure about getting this solar-powered rainbow crystal in case it didn't work for long. But it has been a presence on my south-facing window for a couple of years now. Light from the sun is turned into electricity that powers a motor and turns the suspended crystal at a revolution of once per 10 seconds. The many tiny rainbow-colored blobs of refracted sunlight that come out of the crystal are flung all the way across my 16-foot kitchen. It is true you need direct, strong sunlight to make rainbows, so it doesn't work on cloudy days. The only problem I had was that the suction cup gave out one day and it crashed to the floor. I hung it on a chain from the top of the window casing to prevent further accidents. The crystal has a chip out of the side, but it still refracts light as it did before the fall. When it's working it makes a ticking sound, which I don't mind, but I know some people avoid things that tick.. Only one of my cats has ever been interested in the spot of colored light passing on the floor next to him. And he got used to it quickly, so not much entertainment on that front. But I enjoy the moving rainbows, and it has been one of my favorite purchases.

This is just the cutest thing! I got it for my 7 year old for christmas and we've enjoyed it every morning since. It hangs in the playroom and sends rainbows spinning all over the room. It's cool to see the inner workings of the gears and love how it's solar powered. This is such a great gift!

Great item and self-powered!

We purchased one of these as a gift, and ended up getting two for ourselves. The gift was a big hit with one of our 4-year-old daughter's classmates, but our daughter showed little interest in hers. So, I ended up with both units in my office. Each individually creates a beautiful effect, but with two in action the effect is truly amazing. It almost feels like being underwater with little rainbow fish swimming all around. I imagine the double unit would also create a similar effect. While the suction cups are plenty strong when applied correctly to a clean surface, I've been careless in attaching them several times, and have been amazed at the multiple spills these units have endured. They have each fallen to the floor several times, and the only damage I can detect is to one of the units, which often requires a 'jump start'. Basically, I just have to turn the crystal to the left about a quarter turn to give it the initial momentum, and then it seems to run fine on its own, at least until the sun moves off the panel. Since the sun is the light source for the crystal, the panels do not store a charge, but rather activate upon contact with direct sunlight, then shut down in its absence. Happily, they are very easy to move, so it's possible to 'chase' the sun across various positions on one window, or even between different windows, depending on the time of day and year. Only problem is, now that I'm hooked on my two, our daughter is suddenly showing interest in them as well. So, we're back to buy another unit or two for her and her sister's room. We're looking at the model with chimes too, since we know how great these are, and want to try other models. Originally, I thought these were a bit pricey, but after seeing the quality of both the construction and the effect, I now consider them to be a great value. Would definitely recommend.

It is such a cheerful, lovely sight - having rainbows twirling around my living room I have enjoyed this mobile for the last 10 months - until it STOPPED WORKING yesterday. I will miss it.

I bought one of these in South Dakota years when visiting family. It was always on one of the windows in our living room for years. And did an excellent job of casting rainbows all over the place as long as there was sun light. Fast-forward maybe five years finally that one just stopped working. So we decided to check on Amazon and were pleasantly surprised to see we could order a new one. Well unfortunately, this one has been a bit of a disappointment. It seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it works exactly like it should but more often than not the sun will be beating on it, and it won’t even turn. I don’t know if we just got an old unit and the solar panels on its way out. Or if we just were unlucky and got a somewhat defective one. But the difference between the first one I bought and this one is night and day. When they work, I feel like it’s a great value for the money. You get tons of beautiful rainbows, moving all over the room. But if they don’t work, you’ve got a pretty expensive window ornament which is a bummer.

So far I have bought 4 in total. Everybody loves them, every time the sun comes out the kitchen fills with rainbows. What is not to like !!

しっかりと光に反応して動いてくれます。オブジェとしても、カラフルでお気に入りです

Already had one so have a matching pair

Does what is says on the tin, my 5 year old granddaughter thinks it’s amazing, I bought one 15 years ago for my eldest granddaughter and she now has it at uni

El pedido me llego antes de lo esperado y el producto es hermoso! Adorna perfecto mi casa, fue buena compra!