How to Listen to Light

Step 2 Assemble and wire up the light sensor.

The wiring diagram, first pic in the stack below, shows how to wire the solar cell to a mono audio plug, or how to do the same trick with a stereo plug. Basically for the case of a stereo plug, it is wired up so that electrically it's a mono plug.

In words the tip of a mono audio plug is named "tip", and the ring shaped conductor behind the tip is named "ring". I have connected the positive side of the solar panel to tip, and the negative side to ring. In the little picture in the wiring diagram, ring is labeled with a "1".

The second pic in the stack below shows the actual wiring itself.

You might be wondering what kind of dark magic was necessary to turn that messy box of solar panel shards, shown in step one, into the pretty little perfect circle which will fit neatly inside a 1/2-inch PVC pipe cap. The answer is shown in step 3, sort of, and step 3 is optional.

You see, working with little solar panel shards is kind of a pain in the ass, and I don't recommend you do this unless
(a) You're a masochist - that is, you like pain and frustration
(b) You don't have a pre-made solar cell that will neatly fit inside the light shield

By the way, the "light shield" is another name for the PVC pipe cap. It's intended to block out stray light. In step 4 I paint it black, for extra super-duper light blocking ability.

Comments

[theGpayne]

hey, would it be possible to use a solar panel from a calculator? would i just hook up the cables on that directly to the 3mm plug?

[Jack A Lopez]

Yeah.  I think that would work.  You should try it, and see, I mean hear, what it does.

BTW, I think the solar panel from a calculator is typically 3 or 4 cells wired in series.  See picture.  That fact might be important, or it might not be.