Solar panel charging circuit: A special circuit is needed when charging a battery from a Solar Panel. When the solar panel is not providing any power the battery might start draining current into the panel. One common solution is to have a diode in series with the charging circuit to keep the current from going […]
Tag Archives: solar
Solar power supply
Dolabra put together this 5 volt solar power supply. The solar panel recharges a single alkaline battery which is then boosted to 5volts via an NCP1402 breakout board. Maximum output is 200 mA. I broke all the rules — I soldered directly to the battery and I’m recharging an alkaline. I’m surely going to be […]
DIY geomagnetic storm monitoring
With the recent increase in solar storm activity, Alexander Avtanski bring our attention to his DIY magnetometer project. The activity of the Sun varies on a cycle with a period of approximately 11 years. Periods of low solar activity are followed by a few years of sharply increased number of solar spots, flares, and coronal […]
Arduino solar radio
Simon built a solar powered Arduino FM receiver. Using a solar panel to charge the batteries, this Arduino controlled device can work without the need to recharge. A SI4073 FM tuner ICs output is connected to a TDA7051 integrated amplifier, while the Arudino controls the channel selection of the FM tuner. There is a multi-position switch used […]
TI Deals offers solar experimenter board
TI Deals has the eZ430-RF2500-SEH solar energy harvesting wireless development tool on sale for $74.50 (including free International shipping) while supplies last. According to TI, the board includes 1x eZ430-RF2500-SEH kit, two eZ430-RF2500T wireless target boards, one eZ430-RF USB debugging interface, one AAA battery pack with expansion board (batteries included), one SEH-01 Solar Energy Harvester […]
3D printing with solar sintered sand
Markus Kayser has a very interesting project, called SolarSinter, where he is using the energy from the sun to fuse sand into glass. This is very thought provoking as it utilizes two very ubiquitous things solar energy and sand. While the printer does not has very high precision at the moment, it does appear to […]
New land speed record
Sunswift, a team of students at the University of New South Wales, has broken the land speed record for a purely solar powered vehicle. IVy as it is known hit 88Kph(55Mph) on January 7, 2011. Sunswift is releasing their designs under GPL and TAPR licenses, to promote further development. Via Engadget