Solar powered red dot?

[Irving]

So are there any solar powered red dot sights on the market?

I'm thinking that a solar cell on the top coupled with a back up battery for when there is no sun, would allow for a lot longer battery life. I don't really know anything about red dot sights like what kind of illumination they use or how much power it takes to run one. It seems like in the civilian market at least, it could be useful for plinking since most of that is done during daylight hours anyway.

Thoughts?

[BuffCyclist]

I'm sure I could rig something up. It really just depends on the energy consumption of the red dot sight. I have a couple of flexible solar panels lying around right now that are small enough they could be used.

Can someone post up the type of battery they use? Voltage? Current? And approximate lifetime before battery replacement?

[Zundfolge]

While not exactly what you're talking about, Trijicon (http://www.trijicon.com/) makes several sights/scopes that use "fiber optic" plastic tubes to collect light and redirect them to the dot.

Not sure if anyone else makes one more economical.


http://www.trijicon.com/parts/TA31_451.jpg

[Irving]

That's a much better solution for daytime use only. Solar seems like it'd allow the battery to last a lot longer though. How long do they last right now?

[Zundfolge]

When I had a Red Dot on my AR the battery would last several months (as long as it didn't accidentally get turned on in the case ... which happened often). It used a large watch battery (the same kind that is in the remote door lock thing for my car).

I now have an ACOG TA01NSN (http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/products1.cfm?PartID=142&back_row=4&categoryID=3) and it uses tritium to illuminate the crosshair.


There's an EOTech 512 in the for sale section (http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18485)... I'm assuming it uses AA batteries so they're inexpensive to keep running.


Now I have 4 landscape lights in the front yard that use a single rechargeable AA battery and a little solar cell that is about 2" x 2", so I figure you'd need a little larger solar cell to recharge two AA batteries in an EOTech.


EDIT
There's also something like this (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XD6LU2/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001RMBHMK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=13BWYW1YMDH81X28RKWG) which you could use to charge the AA's for an EOTech.

[Irving]

That solar powered recharger is totally awesome, thanks for the link!

[Tora]

A few years back a guy was doing a conversion to your EoTech. I don't know if he's still doing it or not.

P.S.
Ok I found it.
http://lytonics.com/
$100.00

[mightymouse]

Ziess has one. I'm too buzzed to look it up, but its the only red dot that they make.

[Zundfolge]

Here's the Zeiss one. (http://www.zeiss.com/c1256bcf0020be5f/Contents-Frame/4f4421821a409b1885256dbf004f3282)

Pretty cool little unit.

[Irving]

This is exactly what I was thinking of, thanks for knowing!

http://lytonics.com/lytonics_solar_recharging_eotech_002.jpg

They also have a charger for an AR-15 buttstock.

http://lytonics.com/lytonics_AR15_Solar-Charging_Buttstock.JPG


Here is the Ziess one.

http://images1.opticsplanet.com/750-500-ffffff/opplanet-zeiss-z-point-reflex-sight.jpg

[BuffCyclist]

I have the exact same solar panel that Tora posted up, well, same style but they onlye cost $4 and the wire is so cheap it doesn't matter. $100 is quite the rip off, if someone was serious, I'd be willing to look more seriously into it.

Pretty sure I could have it made, parts and time wise, for less than half of what the other guy is asking. Then again, it all depends on how long it'd take. I'd need a donor red dot site for a few days to figure out options and feasibility. But feel free to spend $100 if its easier

[mutt]

I'm curious how durable these solar systems are? I'm sure they're fine for the range, but I'd question how they'd hold up in duty use. Also, is there really a need for this when an aimpoint supposedly can run continuous for 5yrs on a single battery? Or the tritium that lasts 15yrs in the ACOG? Aimpoints/ACOGS are expensive but once you add the cost of retro-fitting a 'budget' sight with a solar system, you start getting near the same price range.