2026 Harbor Breeze (Shorter Model) Meshtastic Node

It seems like there's a newer (or different?) model of the classic $10 Harbor Breeze solar light at your local big box store, now with a smaller solar panel. I wanted to add another battery in parallel as one just isn't enough during the PNW winter. All the models I could find were for a different-sized unit, so it was time to make my own! This adds space for two 18650 batteries, and the holders are extra long to accommodate protected cells. There's a little ridge next to the batteries where you can clip in a solar charging board, and a spot for a Seeed XIAO nRF52840 or ESP32S3 + SX1262 combo to be held in place with a (long) zip tie or two. Since these devices don't have over-discharge protection onboard, I use protected cells. The spring contacts should be long enough to hold unprotected cells in place if those also work for you. There's a hole to pass the LoRa antenna cable through the mounting hinge (see linked model below for the mount), as well as a spot on th