DIY Solar Powered radio for $5

Step 6 Final photos

There it is done,it works great, I used to work at my computer all day listening to my stand-alone stereo system that used over 40 watts of mains power just to listen to BBC radio 2 (U.K station).

This lasts forever and costs no energy........

Please see all my other great renewable energy projects here:
http://www.gotwind.org/index.htm

Comments

[lbruce lee]

mmmm. must little current ,,....

[PaleoDan]

Thank you for posting this. This was my first attempt to work with Solar Panels. I did not follow exactly as the materials I had at hand were a bit different. I had an old Panasonic radio that took 4 AA batteries. I took it apart and connected it to a scrap solar panel I had from an outdoor spotlight. I do not have batteries involved so my radio will only function in the sun but was still fun to start with.

[mitchiko]

Hi,

How would it be possible to charge the battery? Can the circuitry work on that? I have placed a diode already on my radio but Im not sure that the current being supplied to my radio would be stored in the battery. Though it's still working on now because my battery is still new, but are we really sure that the battery is are being recharged by the solar?? How did you connect the solar to your battery series or parallel?

Thanks

[mitchiko]

Hi,

I'm wondering if the watt requirement of the radio is a function here? I mean is there any limitation in terms of what wattage should the radio has in order to be run by the solar panel model? Reply anyone please.

[PaleoDan]

I do not know the answer to this in general but the radio I used is "AC 120V 60Hz 3 watts and uses 4 "AA" Batteries for 6V when run on battery. I had lost the AC plug long ago so was limited to the batteries when I made the modification. With the solar I have no limits (except the sun).

[mitchiko]

Ah okay thanks for giving me the idea cause I want to do the same also.
Thanks for your prompt answer.

[nekoheehee]

Great little mod :D I have a question I was hoping you or anyone who reads this comment could answer. I have a portable cell phone charger that take 2 AA batteries. do you think this mod would work for something like that?

[Beergnome]

I know.. its been over a year. but yes, this should work in much the same way for your portable cell phone charger. I have harvested the guts from a couple of two battery garden lights just for that purpose. Its pretty much just a battery charging circuit. and you really only need a reversing diode wired into the panel for the purpose