Can solar power hope beat out the engineering reality for Dave's latest project?
Was Doc Brown right?
Can you power a small electronics project indoors using a modern high efficiency solar cell?
IXYS Solar Cell Datasheet: http://ixdev.ixys.com/DataSheet/XOB17-Solar-Bit-Datasheet_Mar-2008.pdf

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By YTB

29 thoughts on “Eevblog #48 – solar power hope”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Electronic Haircut says:

    Hello after 11.5 years.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rinoa Leonhart says:

    itd be cool to make a circuit that charged up, and once it got high enough power it powers the cpu for one operation, and uses E-ink for the screen.

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars insylem says:

    Based on the power output of the Saturn V's F1 engines, you'd need 17.088955375 Gigavolts to equal that power with a current of 0.012 Amps to get to the moon.

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Vadym Radkov says:

    Go to inplix page if you'd like to know how to build it. Great solutions for everyone I think

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Obviously says:

    great video would really like to get some of those mono solar strips . I can't find them . keep up the good work . would very much like to meet you in person I'd pay to listen to you tell us interesting things . thanks man . from the UK

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julien C. says:

    Hello Dave,

    A small error of unity i think. You should use lux unity and not lumen unity when speaking about the sun, as lumen is related to total flux getting out of a luminous source regarding to human eyes sensibility (let's say infinite for the sun ;)), and lux is simply related to a flux of light that a surface receives (lumen/m2). The best way should be to use a power meter device that gives light power received by meter square and relative to the spectrum of sun. As the power of your solar cell is given for a power illumination of 1000 W/m2 at 25°C and 45° of light angle, just use the hypothesis of a linear relation, and make the calculation to get an assessment of the power you could get.
    An other remark, i think that amorphous technology absorbs better diffused light, like indoor light, than mono and polycristalline.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jack Katogh says:

    The automated youtube captions on this video had me rolling.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Aadil Shah says:

    In my experience, solar calculators need incandescent light to work properly. That one you have that's working might be specially tuned to fluorescent lighting though.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Psy says:

    Dave's nuggets of wisdom… Thanks for making great videos! 🙂 Greetings from germany.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Steve Robbins says:

    Dave, you should look for PV cells that are optimized for indoor use, rather than high efficiency in sunlight.  I think there are some PV cells that are designed to use the wavelengths put out by fluorescent lamps.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Fisher Grubb says:

    Not sure about all details of your project, what about having a small decent rechargeable battery?  Then the solar to charge it?  Does it need to be solar only?  I assume you want it to be used even while charging which I assume would be an issue again

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Filatov Teg says:

    Haha, this old video applies perfectly on the recent solar roadways bullshit project.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars mechtheist says:

    You've also just demonstrated one of the most important reasons for using decibel units, which I don't think you mentioned in your decibel video, it's that our senses and many other biological processes, work at the decibel, or log, scale.  Basic example, octaves in music–spectrums plotted on linear scale don't seem right, on a log scale, it does.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Motorcycles and more says:

    Colleague of mine had one like that. Plug into the cigarette lighter nothing happens. We tested it and they wired it the Australian way!

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julian Ilett says:

    Low power solar devices like calculators tend to use amorphous cells. I'm intregued by the claims that amorphous panels don't need sunlight, just daylight! Sounds like nonsense to me so I need to do some comparisons between silicon wafer and amorphous at different light levels. Maybe at low light levels amorphous really does beat crystalline.

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MrFreddyFeatures says:

    SUPER CAPS, or ULTRA CAPS

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Adventurer says:

    I think I've found my next project. Some of those solar cells in parallel with some AA batteries with a usb connector to charge my cell phone and tablet. I haven't played with solar cells since I was a kid.

    Thanks Dave for these informative videos. I haven't seen them all but I plan to.

  18. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jesondag says:

    If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing… slap ten of those on and call it good. ^_^

  19. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars EEVblog says:

    Yes, it does. All solar cells shipped to Australia must have the positive & negative leads reversed by law. Beware gray market imports!

  20. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars hackmiker says:

    Shouldn't solar power in Australia generate negative voltage? Cause, you know, it's down under.

  21. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Debug Duck says:

    they will of course. its not the efficiency that counts, its the cost. oil costs permanently but light is free. Id rather get 100w for nothing than 250w for money.

  22. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars jdflyback says:

    oil is about 80% efficent and until solar panels reach around that level they will not be a real competiter

  23. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars randacnam7321 says:

    I do not expect the absolute maximum efficiency cap of 100% to go away any time soon.

  24. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars randacnam7321 says:

    Unless the laws of physics change, it will still be impossible to get more energy than is available in the light that hits the module. The module would just convert more of the light hitting it into electricity.

  25. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars randacnam7321 says:

    Moonlight is more like 1/100,000th as bright as full sun.

  26. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars randacnam7321 says:

    That would be impossible as there is only a tiny fraction of the available light energy available in moonlight as there is in sunlight. If the light on a PV module is only 1/10,000th that of sunlight, then said module can only produce 1/10,000th its rated power. This means that your 300W module can only produce 30mW (0.03W). To say otherwise is to get into the realm of free energy bullshit.

  27. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars randacnam7321 says:

    The amount of power that a PV module can generate is directly related to the intensity of the light incident on the module. As the intensity of the light under a streetlight is a VERY tiny fraction of that in full sun, a PV module can only produce a correspondingly tiny fraction of it's rated power. There will also be additional power reduction due to the inhomogeneity of the light.

  28. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars amd64online says:

    My thoughts across the same line…

  29. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sjoerd Beukers says:

    europe follows… 1 september 2012

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