I had endless troubles with my photo cells, replacing them 2 to 3 times a year.

photo cells dim the light at on and off. this diming with certain fluroscents can take out the photo cell.

and also can be ruined when a incandescent bulb fails going brilliant at end of life. that flash bulb look.

i solved both problems by upgrading to dimable CFLs and am planning to upgrade to dimable Led.

i had planned to install a relay to power the offending fixture, one day i happened to see the flash and found the sensor had failed....

so I tried CFL, but one day saw the bulb flickering dim very brite, and changed the bulb but again found the sensor had failed.

so i went with dimable cfls and havent had a problem since, that must be over 10 years ago...