#Solar power booster circuit download

For example, a typical hobby-grade credit-card-sized silicon cell has an open-circuit voltage of 0.55V. The output current for typical monocrystalline-silicon solar cells directly depends on the amount of incident sunlight ( Figure 1). Because they often obscure the sun, it's tough to design a system that can reliably provide power. The only clouds in this otherwise sunny picture are. Today's more efficient, less expensive solar cells provide a practical means of converting the sun's power into electricity to run our gadgets and gismos (see the appendix, From Photons to Electrons). It employs the MAX856 boost converter and MAX982 dual comparator with reference.Īs a power source, the sun offers some impressive advantages over typical battery cells: It generates virtually limitless energy, requires no recharging, and is expected to last for another five billion years or so. This circuit extracts the maximum power from a solar array to charge a battery stack. If you need a little more help to get started, check out the Solar USB Kit 1.0 by BrownDog Gadgets.Charge NiCd or NiMH batteries with solar cells. If you would like to create a more permanent Solar USB Charger through soldering your components, Joshua Zimmerman has an excellent Instructables on a soldered version of the Solar USB Charger we’ve illustrated above.Īre you shopping for components to make your very own? Here are some places to buy materials: SolderingĪs our Solar USB Charger kit is focused on introducing youth to electronic prototyping via a breadboard, we try to minimize soldering as much as possible. Given the solar enclosure will be exposed to large amounts of sunlight, we would not suggest using cardboard or a paper-based product as your solar enclosure. If your solar panel is small enough, you can have the solar panel be attached on the outside of the Altoids Tin for charging and stored in the tin when not in use. A fellow MIT alum, Ladyada of Adafruit Industries developed a Altoids Tin enclosed USB Charger Kit called the MintyBoost that has become a huge hit in the maker community. Our favorites are made from small plastic storage containers or Altoids tins. However, we are aware the majority of the planet does not have access to such facilities and there are other solutions to showcase your new solar build.

#Solar power booster circuit download

If you have access to a laser cutter, you can find tons of open-source laser cutting files (typically Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw files) to download and use to create fun enclosures for your Solar USB Charger. You can build an enclosure for your Solar USB Charger like these that we make.įor our Solar USB Charger Kits for youth, we use a laser cutter on MIT campus in order to cut LEGO inspired enclosures from plywood and acrylic. Mbadika Solar USB Charger for Mobile Devices Acrylic and Plywood versions.

Since our circuit uses two AA batteries, our circuit voltage is 2.4V. The DC to DC USB Booster Circuit will allow for you to charge your USB powered device through increasing the DC Voltage from 2.4V to 5V, which is ideal for charging small electronic devices such as basic smartphones, mobile players, and feature phones. Place your Solar Panel and LED leads in the holes of the breadboard, as shown in Illustration 2. If your LED lights up, your Solar Panel is functioning. The wire connection component allows the user to extend the positive and negative leads of the Solar Panel via the insertion of jumper wires in the corresponding holes. If your Solar Panel does not already have exposed solid core wire ends, attach solid core wires to the positive and negative leads of the solar panel via soldering in order to insert the Solar Panel into the breadboard electronic circuit.įor the purpose of our kits, we use Solar Panels with a wire connection component. Place the breadboard in the landscape orientation, as shown in Illustration 1. Breadboard layout for testing Solar Panel.