Solar Powered USB Charger

[newton3010]

BE Honest, Everyone who watched this video immediatly thought about going to steal their neighbors garden lights...

[DUMBxRExRE]

fuuck

[jeecci]

heeey baby ,music sounds better with you.........



[derman077]

Great work, especially as a learning experience. To share what I have learned, I suggest adding a 5 volt MOSFET. 

[qsk2pc602]

or you havein probs with over charging and hurting the batt. in the cell?

[yoududenut]

Could I add rechargeable AAA batteries?

[jakeman552]

@yoududenut ya but you need a diode

[mortalstorm]

Unless the cell phone has very good voltage regulation, I wouldn't attempt to charge it outdoors unattended. A voltage regulator would prevent damage to the unit from an overchage.

[DementedEeyore64]

Without a regulator too properly provide the necessary voltage, the device may be harmed over time. So to anyone thinking about doing this and use it often to use a regulator.

[FireyFiringFire]

What's the voltage?

It's probably dangerous trying to charge your phone on a really bright day because you

[Mr12345678901212]

do u need a diode?

[jakeman552]

@Mr12345678901212 if you add rechargable batteries then yes you do

[jakeeln]

how long does it take to charge?

[shgjlsfg]

good job!

[Mr12345678901212]

just the video i was looking for!

[TheSmyth18]

can u use normal wire or haf tu use floppy disk wire

[JimInLakeland]

@TheSmyth18

Is your sentence written in English? How lazy!

[toocool3]

By the way, why is the second bridge necessary? Is it just in case one breaks?

[kittenless]

Also, I can't believe people stole my idea. Dx

First come, first serve, I guess... should have spoken up sooner...

[kittenless]

How can it come in handy in a pinch, if it takes several hours to charge indoors?? The charger I have now only takes an hour.

[8Gtouchuser]

the point is it is faster outside so if ther is a power outtage you can charge your stuff like your phone to make 911 calls (or other calls)

[shortandbald]

i am so building this!!!

[hobbes95811]

i am thinking of making one of these for my sirus radio. and i bought a solio which isnt strong enough to charge the radio, now could i build one of these with a battery on the unit so i could store power during the day which i am listening to the radio to then later charge the radio at nite.

[1zacster]

A really cool thing would be a case with built in cells and it charges it while yourbusing it

[djoracol]

is no good putes out 37mAmps at 3.7V on loade end 41mAmps end 6.6v with no loade !! not enuf!!

[mystiqueman366]

check your spelling

[Lacrossanator1]

hey Rory,

i've made one of these but my total output is between 6 and 6.5 volts...DAMN

Do you think i could use some kind of a voltage regulator?, those things that are like 2 bucks?

A reply would be greatly appreaciated.

Thanks

[l3owman]

Have you got a blocking diode in that circuit? Otherwise you could end up with a dead/low battery in the morning if you was to keep it pluged in overnight when the lights are out.

[jmorg73]

By using the USB port of the phone you would not need a diode. The phone thinks that is is simply unpluged & it stops the charging cycle. You would only need a block if you were going directly to the phones battery & thus bypassing the phones regulated charging device.

[killshame]

YES! Thank you so much! Ive been wondering this myself and now it makes sense. That the device would have its own diode. Thanks (even though its been 2 months)

[Tellson]

sorry, thnkx.

[Tellson]

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about...I know you didn't connect this..cause if you did I know you would have failed miserably!

[rorypart]

Why would I have failed? I flip the thing over over in the video so you can see how simple it is. All it takes is sodering wires in the right places on the back of the panels and wiring it to the negative and positive wires in the female USB plug. And you're done. For bigger panels you need a charge regulator on there, but these are small panels, so you're fine as long as nothing is plugged in when the panels are not in the light (in that case, the panels would drain the batteries).

[n3vmc]

That rocks boss....who needs those silly solar walkway lights anyway?

:)

Im building panels from scratch....check out my vids.

[8117326]

someone want to chat

i cant watch this video Yx

[Seiroukou]

Will this work better, than a USB Charger that has one solar panel and uses 4 AAA batteries?

[rorypart]

Adding batteries and a power regulator is the next step. The batteries will help charge things better (especially in no light situations) but will take longer to charge with only one of these panels.

[toocool3]

I'm gonna try 8 of those panels with my iPhone with a switching voltage regulator. I saw a schematic that shows 2.0 and 2.7 volts should be added to the middle USB pins to get the iPhone to charge up to 1000mA. I was thinking of putting a USB switch so I can chose to charge my iPhone or a Li-Polymer battery pack.

[thunderbombman]

I bet StoppCO2's neighbor has a lot less lights now.

ahh haa ha

[jakegoakes]

dose it work for ipod tuch

[davie96]

Id say it would wokr with anything if you have the right cables lieing around

[StoppCO2]

What a nice Idea, my neighbour has a lot of sorlarlights in his garden :-)))))

[Wikipunani]

lol yer evilz >]

[Charles2337]

LOL