Lead-acid batteries are the most common type of energy storage for outdoor solar lighting systems; however, they can be extremely expensive to purchase or replace. This study developed an intelligent composite battery charger (ICBC) to manage the charge-discharge of photovoltaic (PV) modules and fuel cells (FCs). When sunlight is strong, quick charge and discharge is enabled using lithium-ion batteries in order to overcome the low charge-discharge efficiency of lead-acid batteries. The ICBC automatically switches from lithium-ion batteries to lead-acid batteries on cloudy days to provide backup power and increase the supply of power, thereby extending the lifespan of the lead-acid batteries. PV/FCs is able to charge the composite battery; therefore, the proportional capacity of lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries play an important role in the conversion efficiency of the system. The paper also combined response surface methodology (RSM) and particle swarm optimization with non-linear time-varying evolution (PSO_NTVE) to optimize the design of the composite battery. This scheme was tested by building a 174W/200W prototype with 12 V PV/FCs to run streetlights and signs on campus roads. To confirm the computer simulation results, an experimental system was conducted to determine the optimum sizing of the composite battery. The results show the efficiency of the proposed ICBC system.