From bigclivedotcom.

I got this a very long time ago. It either came from a gadget shop or from one of the surplus companies that used to advertise in magazines. I’m pretty sure this unit predates the Internet era.
Its purpose is to attract attention to a shop window display by waving a message or object.

The circuitry is a very classic self-starting magnetic pendulum, like in the solar powered wobbling ornaments. But this unit has discrete circuitry, which makes it much more useful.

Something I didn’t mention in the video is that the coil is offset from the centre. This is presumably to aid starting. I’ve just tested that, and it answered the question of whether the coil pushes or pulls the magnet. With low light levels the magnets were being pulled towards the coil.

Magnetic pendulums are strangely fascinating. They have a very long history that dates back to the earliest electric clocks. It takes very little electrical energy to keep a well designed pendulum in motion.

A search on AliExpress found that the keywords "POP shelf solar wave" could find versions of these.

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