solar cells for PICAXE power

papaof2

Senior Member
Shipping may be prohibitive elsewhere, but those in the US may be interested in these 3 volt, 40 ma solar cells for $3.75US from All Electronics:
<A href='http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/SPL-61/search/SOLAR_CELL,_60MM_X_60MM_X2MM_.html' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>

Considering the current draw on many PICAXE projects, one cell could keep 2 AA NiCD/NiMH cells charged with just a few hours of sunlight.
Oh yes, cheaper in quantity - if you're interested in 100 at $3.25 each ;-)

John
 

manuka

Senior Member
Great find - but more cost effective alternatives exist!

1. Solar garden lamps. These sell for as low as US$2 each here in NZ &amp; have a quality PV giving ~2V at ~30mA. Remove the PV from 2 lamps &amp; you're laughing.

2. US outlet PAGER MOTORS <A href='http://www.pagermotors.com/Flex_Cells.htm' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a> sell &quot;paper thin&quot; flexible PVs with similar specs to your find. These just pop in an envelope &amp; mail as is!

Stan
 

jodicalhon

New Member
Yes, those Pager Motor cells look great. There's lots of good advice on the Technical info page, too.

Nice to see that their voltage is substantially unchanged by light level - current varies.

The garden lamp solar cells' voltage as well as current varies with the light.
 

Mycroft2152

Senior Member
You can also just use the solar light itself as a rechargeable low cuurent 3 volt supply by removing the white led and adding a diode and a capacitor to filter out the AC component. I have this working on the newer single AA lights with &quot;blob&quot; circuitry.

Here is a link to another method using the older discrete circuitry <A href='http://www.talkingelectronics.com/Projects/PowerSupply5vSolar/PowerSupply5vSolar.html' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>

http://www.talkingelectronics.com/Projects/PowerSupply5vSolar/PowerSupply5vSolar.html

and another <A href='http://home.comcast.net/~botronics/project.pdf' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>

While you are at the second link, check out Bill's PICAXE based artbots. Very clever stuff, especially the Jar of Fireflies!

Edited by - Mycroft2152 on 30/04/2007 14:45:51

Edited by - Mycroft2152 on 30/04/2007 14:59:33
 

Mycroft2152

Senior Member
Try this for Jar of Fireflies <A href='http://home.comcast.net/~botronics/#firefly' Target=_Blank>External Web Link</a>

Note: the reistors can be omitted due to the use of pwm.

Myc
 
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