I'm looking for a solar panel that can put out 9-12V with an out put of 10-20 watts. I'm sure I could go on ebay and find some that cost a pretty penny but can you guys think of any way to pilfer a solar panel out of something that might be discarded? The area I have to work with here is about 22"X5".
This is for a project I'm working on and will be finishing up shortly. I'll post all about it when I'm done.
Ok, since I don't really know what I'm doing I'll make sure I'm not going to be wasting my money here. I plan on taking this solar cell and wiring it directly to a motor. When the sun is out, the motor is spinning. When it's cloudy, not so much. Is this going to work or am I over simplifying it. Do I need a battery or controller to act as a buffer?
Harbor freight has some inexpensive panels.
Some of those big lighted signs in construction zones have solar cells on them, or navigational markers... Seriously though, I have the Harbor Freight solar panels that I use to keep the battery charged on my tractor. You will probably need a controller as the raw voltage from the solar cells varies depending upon the sunlight. I think they will exceed 12 volts. My father found some rather large panels at Costco that he put on the roof of his motorhome. They were pretty cheap and came with a controller.
I recall that some Japanese luxury car had a solar powered exhaust fan to keep the interior cool when parked out in hot weather - maybe the Mazda 929?
It's the Prius.
State auctions.
You think those nice big signs don't get hit? Then follow RedT2's advice
Steal all your neighbors' driveway lights?
It looks like my choices are a Nissan Leaf (there's one on the roof), a solar battery charger, or buy a brick from eBay and get to work.
I pressed on with the project, the solar will be added later.
cwh wrote:Harbor freight has some inexpensive panels.
They have the 12V, 15W panel on sale right now for $80.00.
Have any friends that work at a VW dealership? We got a small panel with our 03 Jetta. It has removable suction cups, and is meant to keep the battery charged while in transport or storage. Turns out they threw most of them away.
