solar lawn mower

Step 5 Charging

once you've hooked it all up all you need to do now is set it in the sun and let it do its thing .it doesn't have to be a cloudless day for your solar cells to work but they do work best in direct sun .it takes about 4-6 hours to charge depending on how clear the day is and position of the sun in reference to the solar cell .and it is about to cut thick grass for 20-30 minutes on the mulch setting so that time would be greater if you were collecting it in a bag

the solar cell does not stay connected for use of the mower (it is only for charging) .and the batteries have to be hooked back up to the manufacturer's specs .but for free power the 3 minutes it takes to do that is worth it

.it only took me about 45 minutes to complete this project since I had all of the stuff just laying around (my father is a "junk" collector)

I'm sure you will be able to locate a battery lawn mower online .my dad bought this one on clearance for somewhere around 75 dollars ,and you can purchase a 12 volt solar cell for around 65 dollars from harbor freight



I hope this is helpful and I would like any feedback and criticism you would like to offer as this my first instructable

Comments

[lar2]

This looks like a great idea! Pretty cool for a first Instructable. Mowing later in the evening allows a full day for charging. You mentioned cutting up "the Cigarette lighter plug". It wasn't mentioned in your first step. Was it something else someone needs before this is attempted?

[Marsh]

Something that was overlooked about that lighter plug was that there is a diode inside it to prevent the battery from discharging into the solar cell. When there's plenty of light out, the PV cell is making electricity and charging the battery. When it gets dark, what do you think happens? The battery has greater potential so it discharges into the solar cell. Using 2 of these (usually on sale at harbor freight for $20), one for each battery and with diodes installed to isolate the batteries from each other should make it so you just store the thing in the sun and it's ready to use any time you need it.

[somebullcrap]

no .just how it came from the factory

[marjorieallea]

Where did you get that cute pink lawnmower from anyway?

[somebullcrap]

well it started off red but was faded by the brutal texas summer sun .and my dad got on on sale at one of the home improvement stores

[nerys]

ahhhhh texas. THAT is why that 5 watt panel works so well for you.

up here in PA even 4 of those might not recharge me in a week :-) hehe

No theft issues? I can't leave mine out it would be stolen inside a few days. hence I will mount my panels on the garage roof and wire inside to charge the mower.

Great job on the instructable I hope to see more from you!

[lifeyjane]

Congrats on the win! Someday, would you make a quick vid/slideshow of how easy disassembly is? I think it's a big selling point.

[HuggyBear]

I LOVE Harbor Freight.