[jambutty]

solar cells work best from red light wavelengths

If that is true how do you explain this?
Of visible light, violet has the most energy and red the least.
As stated on http://www.howstuffworks.com/light3.htm
Is a well respected site correct and you have got yourself mixed up or are you right and they are wrong?

I can make my computer screen into any colour I choose simply by either changing the boot up picture or running a paint package that covers the whole screen with a picture of any colour. Regardless of which colour I chose (except black or dark greys) my calculator will work.

The light spreads out as it gets greater distance.

Or the further away you get from a light source the less light there is to fall on a given area. Less light means not as bright.

Another reason could be any external light thats not coming from the blue light bulb such as light from another room, sunlight from the window, street lamps, anything.

It could be but it isn’t. I have already stated that the during the evenings with the curtains drawn the only light source is the table lamp on top of the TV and the glow from my monitor. As the monitor is in front of me and the calculator has to face me so that I can see the display ergo the solar panel is also facing the table lamp on top of the TV and cannot receive any light from the monitor.

They work best off the red frequencies.

In light of what I have stated at the beginning – prove your statement by pointing me to a bona fide web reference.

The sooner you accept them the sooner you will realize why your calculator works less well with a low energy light bulb.

But that is where all this started. I stated that the LE bulb would not make my calculator work unless I brought the calculator closer to the source. Therefore I concluded that the light from an LE bulb was not as bright as the light from an equivalent hot filament bulb. And now you agree with me.

Unless you can prove your “solar panels work best off red frequencies” statement as a proven scientific FACT then this post does clear up everything.