Rain or Shine Solar Charger

Step 14 Adjust the output

Next well be adjusting the solar charge controller to match the stock charger. Put a pair of fresh AAA batteries in the battery holder. Freshly charged rechargeable batteries would be my choice, but alkaline ones will work too. Now, measure the voltage between the two top pads as shown in the picture. It will likely read 8v or so. There is an adjusting screw on the side of the AnyVolt Micro. Turn this until the output reads 5v, or whatever your device is expecting. The adjustment screw is a 22 turn potentiometer, and you cannot damage it by turning it too far. You'll need to turn it at least several complete revolutions to get to the right range.

Once the output is correct, solder the charging plug wires to the board. The C+ output is positive, and the other similarly sized and shaped output in the top center of the board is negative. Check the output voltage again, because we're at a moment of truth. When you've verified it is the correct voltage and the correct polarity, plug in your cell phone. It should register that a charger is connected and start charging. This will be charging off the AAA batteries in the holder, so if you're using alkalines, unplug it after you verify that its correct. Otherwise the cell phone will charge off the alkaline batteries and then they'll be dead. That would be wasteful.

Solder two long thin wires from the remaining two pads (One is marked P-) as these will go to the solar cells. Conradulations, the electronics are basically done. Now we get Hybrid!