The original battery lasted three years. looked at ordering new batteries. hard to find the same exact batteries, but when I thought I found a match they were $35 for a four-pack. May never need a fou8r pack, so just got a new light for $25. Not as bright as I had hoped but ok for some illumination of flag.

This unit solved my problem. It seems most flag lights are designed to fit poles of at least 2" diameter. My little flag fits on a 1" staff and I guess most people just take flags this small down at night because their is no mechanicm to raise and lower them. But I wanted to fly my flag above my garden shed. For larger poles this light clamps to the pole with the solar collector on one side and the light on the other. When the mounting bolts are tightened, the flats of the brackets collapse around the pole to create a tight fit. Some people say this works fine for 1" poles. However, I wanted to be able to mount the collector to capture the most sunlight and that meant it couldn't be right on the pole. I was able to mount the collector where it was most efficient and the light where it was most effective. The light is bright enough but not brilliant. I think it shines a respectable light in and responsible manner. I hated the idea of burning fuel to make my small statement of patriotism. This works perfectly for my needs.

This light has been installed for about 6 months and I couldn't be happier. We live on a ranch and have a 15' flagpole at our front gate which flies the American flag 24/7. There is no electricity at the gate, so we need the light to illuminate the flag at night. It does so wonderfully. I mounted it on the pole about 5' off the ground and the light is bright enough to allow us to see the flag clearly at night from our front door, about 150 yards away. The battery has held up well so far, providing light through the night.
This has been a very good purchase.

I like this unit. The mounting was tricky as the bolts were not long enough to go around my flagpole. I mounted it on a post that was close by and aimed the light up at the flag. This burns for hours and recharges daily. I haven't been up before dawn yet to check if it is still burning, but I am pretty happy with it.

If your plan is to keep your flag illuminated all night, especially during the winter months when the sun sets early, plan on being disappointed. The battery in this light is so small and its output capacity so low that the light will go out after about 5 hours.
The less than favorable reviews of its mounting hardware are true and I agree like most that bought one of these lamps that it's not well thought out at all. If you own a more commercial sized flagpole and not one of the more common big box store 2" diameter fiberglass poles you'll be looking for a creative way to mount both the solar cell and lamp. The product engineers and the bean counters obviously had a disconnect on it's mounting hardware.
As for the lamps illumination capability the actual lamp is great (!) but the sealed battery in the solar panel is incapable of keeping the light on for more than about 5 hours - even on the low brightness setting. Put it on high brightness and you will be subtracting at least an hour of illumination.
When the pee wee battery is fully charged this is a 5 star lamp but it sure gets dark outside quickly.
Rather than junk the entire instrument I'll find a way to replace it's pitiful little rechargeable battery with a much higher capacity battery and make the package work like it should have. That should not have been the users responsibility.