How to make a Solar USB charger! (simple!)

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Welcome! I will show you how to make a solar usb charger that out puts about 6v and is perfect for charging anthing that uses USB. This is perfect for someone new to soldering! Here is the finished product:

Step 1: Parts

You need the following:
1x USB extension a/a cable http://www.monoprice.com (That's where I got mine.)
1x Any Diode (RadioShack #: 276-563)
1x 6v Solar panel (RadioShack #: 277-1205 )
Soldering iron(RadioShack #: 64-2051)
Solder
1x Project box (Radioshack #: 270-1803) I would maybe chose a smaller on, I had a bigger one laying around.
Electrical Tape
Glue Gun or tape to hold the peices in place.
Drill

Thats it!

Comments

[mking01]

Hey, this is probably a stupid question, yet i will still ask it because google can't help me (for once)
If i were to use a higher voltage solar panel (ie. about 8V) and add in a 7805 5v regulator, wouldn't that essentially make it safer for my iPhone and possibly increase the mA? I need this answer as soon as possible, but even if its been a while, still answer because i might want to make this again some day outside of school, thanks!

[garrydolley]

If one hooked multiple panels together in parallel, increasing the current (or perhaps just get a bigger one), as long as the output is 5V, would it charge faster? I would imagine it would provide more current in lower light situations too.

[Fashiondez]

i am working on a solar charger project and have scavenged a circuit boat from a car usb charger. Can I put a regulator on the usb circuit that needs 12 v? or do i need to get a usb board that is 2v (or whatever it is) and let it bump it up to teh 5v that it needs?

[dkba27]

A cell phone charger outputs .7 amps and 5v which in turn = 3.5 watts.
My question is how to get a solar panel, 9v and 1.5 watts to do the same.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12628239&retainProdsInSession=1&retainProdsInSession=1

Is there a set of components that can be added to get the same results?
Like lowering the voltage and increasing the watts?

[dkba27]

Also http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/Volts-Watts-Amps-Converter
helps with the math.

[qwerty156]

You cant increase the watts by any method.

[Pranavthegreat]

i used a 5v regulator for my charger but still my phone is not charging

[Fashiondez]

Can I use a 6v 35ma cell for this project?

[ddaniels-3]

can you make something like this that would charge a phone and have an output to charge say a kindle or ereader

[dabomb1022]

Yeah all you gotta do is cut the charger cable for hat device and solder the red and black wires

[jdongon]

can you give me instructions how to build this charger i dont have any idea into what part goes where...thx

[dabomb1022]

I just did!

[powercables]

Your blog really help in making a solar USB charger but I just want to know that is this require any kind of Power Cables????Thanks for the beautiful tips and the post....

www.cables.com

[jarencibia]

USB Pinout, You can figure it out with a multimeter if the colors are off

http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml

[597Ryan]

So before I build this does this work with Ipods without the 5v regulator?

[oweng4000]

No. It will not. All usb devices use 5 volts.

[jbuchanan9]

I build this and my cell phone says "charging" but the battery is actually draining. After a couple of hours in the sun battery went down 3 bars....any ideas???? Diode is right direction ie. I am getting current out of the USB plug.

[Vijster1]

Make sure that you are getting the right amount of current (5 volts).

MadScientist101 says:
you should put a 5v voltage reg to stop spikes killing your usb device.

[Vijster1]

Afterwards, use this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-get-your-iPod-to-charge-with-your-homemade-/#step1

[snipeu7456]

the wires inside my usb extension cord are red, blue, green, and white. help?

[rabb72994]

red and white

[Br4inFr33z3]

red is +5v, black is ground

[rabb72994]

read what people are asking

[mikekull]

just outta curiosity... if you used the pcb from minty boost and instead of running it to a battery charger you connected it direct to your solar panel would it give the desired results on the data lines? Just thought about this as a way of avoiding having to fiddle with voltage regulators, and a circuit of resistors..

[mason0190]

You can use the solar panel on a lot of solar powered garden lights, and instead of buying an extension cord for USB, you can just get a female USB port here.

[clayjar]

Is it possible to increase the current in a setup like this? I get about 12 mA, which probably isn't much compare to 850 mA through the charger from the wall outlet. I would imagine it would take forever to actually charge up a phone. I've tried this set up with a USB (type A, female) for an Android phone, and I have yet to test it out on a full daylight, but testing it from an indoor lamp, I do get a "Charging" status on the phone, but just waking up the phone to check the status seems to be draining the battery because I saw the battery going from 87% to 86%... anyway, I need to test this little more, probably with the phone off.

[skatelong]

were can you get solar panels? (in NZ)

[axeman911]

at "adafruit.com" only 10 bucks awesome

[Johenix]

Try your local VW dealer (they do have them in Kiwi Land?) for the solar panels they use to trickel charge cars in transit. or look on EBay.

[simfire687]

Radio Shack.

[shayde1014]

How do I wire a regulator into the circuit?

[MadScientist101]

you should put a 5v voltage reg to stop spikes killing your usb devicae

[jonnyman]

this charges almost everything, but my iphone. any idea how to make it charge my iphone 4?

[Adam Manick]

build this circuit after dropping the voltage to 5 volts

[dabomb1022]

Sorry but Apple adds some dumb things into their chargers to make it not work unless there is a data connection, try googling this

[vinura]

 will this fry your ipod?

[Adam Manick]

No but it may not charge it. Use this circuit to make it work. You should only use this circuit after you have dropped the voltage down to 5 volts.

[dabomb1022]

 no, unless the voltage is too high.

[teknoman]

WARNING!!: Building a solar panel charger for anything without using a voltage regulation circuit (such as a 7805 5v regulator) is very dangerous and CAN fry your device!! Using a 7805 is very simple and can be found on many other solar charger Instructables! Be safe!

[Adam Manick]

A 7805 voltage regulator has to have a voltage over 7 volts to operate normally. If you use 6 volts the regulator may decrease the voltage to 4 volts instead of 5. They are also very inefficient and get very hot. All they do is turn voltage into heat.