Inexpensive Solar Power

[BugMan]

This is about a Solar Power Plant made from recycled parts. (http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycled-Solar-Power/?ALLSTEPS) It is a work in progress. It all started at the landfill where someone next to me was throwing away 11 solar garden lights. I had 9 at home from garage sales. I had an old picture frame and some plywood and paint. I had to buy 4 diodes from radio shack. I started by taking all the lights apart and using the solar cells. I saved the circuit boards and LED's for future projects. The plastic globe made nice little hot caps for the garden...

This looks like a fun little project. I think I may give this a go. Just need to find the old broken lanterns. I'm sure I have a few...neighbors too. These lights never last long, but I am sure the solar cells are fine. I already have some large panels, but this just looks like a fun project.

[Checkmate]

Subscribing.

[RWalls]

What kind of output we talking here?

[BugMan]

What kind of output we talking here? I'm thinking this setup is about 24 volts on a sunny day. Maybe 4-5 watts? Not going to set the world on fire, but you could charge a phone, keep a LED light lit up, or some other low power device like a radio going.

[RWalls]

To set the world on fire you start with a match.

[Coppertop]

Bugman -- how did this turn out? Can you update on this

[nephilim]

I made a solar panel for around £75 all told ($120ish). 250w it has maxed out at in terms of wattage, it hits 20V and 12.5A on a good day. Getting some proper solar storage batteries for it for any power outages :)