Build It: DIY Juice Pouch

Step 8 Test It

Place the photovoltaic panel in direct sunlight and test the voltage readings with a multimeter at these four points: photovoltaic panel terminals (you did this test in Step 2), voltage regulator input, voltage regulator output, and USB pin 1 + 4. The readings at the first two points should both be approximately 7 - 8 volts. The readings at the last two points should be exactly 5.15 Volts. If you obtain valid voltage readings, try connecting one of your USB-chargeable devices to the Juice Pouch's output USB female connector. During testing we found that iPod nano (first generation) and Sony PSP charged reliably with this setup. Unfortunately, we were not able to charge a Motorola RAZR V3 phone or an iPod shuffle (first generation).

Comments

[Immanis]

Hmm - I tried putting this thing together and charging my RAZR without the 200k ohm resistor. It actually says "charging" some of the time, but only when it's in full sunlight and if the battery is a little low.

[thisRobot]

to charge a razr you need a special circuit aka a 200k ohm resistor. Here is a link to a pin out and a diagram.

http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-A-N/razrv3_charger_pinout.shtml
http://krhainos.tk/motoplug.jpg

it should be super easy to build a special usb cable just for your razr