Category Archives: solar

Solar Cooker from a Satellite Dish

Posted on September 28, 2012 by robertwilkie

Tempted to build one myself, actually more for a stirling engine idea, but cooking will work too. http://sharealikelicence.wordpress.com/category/solar-cooker/

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$2+ dollar sun tracker

Posted on September 28, 2012 by robertwilkie

Nice write-up on building a cheap sun tracker (good for solar power and directing solar panels at the sun). http://www.instructables.com/id/2-sun-tracker-circuit/

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Repurposing a used dead car battery

Posted on September 27, 2012 by robertwilkie

Nice writeup on re-using a car battery for solar power storage.  Most car batteries still have a little life left too them (just 1/2 cells are dead) so if you need a cheap storage for solar, this is a good … Continue reading →

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Convert a Solar Trickle Charger to full use

Posted on September 25, 2012 by robertwilkie

Author makes a good point that at Harbor Freight you can get these trickle chargers for car batteries allot cheaper than what the panels can do on there own.  So this is a good mod to try out. http://www.instructables.com/id/Step-By-Step-hack-a-trickle-solar-charger/

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Arduino Solar Cell Tester

Posted on September 17, 2012 by robertwilkie

Nice write-up on building a tester for solar cells.  My 2 cents, I would scale the cost down with a smaller arduino and board. http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Solar-Cell-Tester/  

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Simple steps to build your own Solar Panel

Posted on August 28, 2012 by robertwilkie

Simple instructable on how to build your own set of solar panels. http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Solar-panels-for-RV-or-off-grid/

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Cheap suntracker

Posted on June 20, 2012 by robertwilkie

Nice cheap alternative for a sun tracker, but as the author says, he has not found a good way to drive the motors to turn the panels without external power supply. http://www.instructables.com/id/2-sun-tracker-circuit/

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Simple outdoor solar powered security camera

Posted on June 14, 2012 by robertwilkie

Nice simple use of a webcam for a security camera.  I had a setup with “real” cameras a while back running zoneminder on the backend.  I may revisit that setup with this too. https://imgur.com/a/IgdrQ/noscript

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Simple Solar Hot Water

Posted on May 29, 2012 by robertwilkie

A nice simple solar hot water heater.  I have had some interest in this myself, but more so for heating a pool. http://www.scienceprog.com/harvesting-energy-with-home-made-solar-thermal-collector/  

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Cool hack for solar lights

Posted on May 24, 2012 by robertwilkie

Neat hack for modifying solar lights.  The author changes out the LEDs for better performance instead of the battery. http://www.bigclive.com/solar.htm

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