c/diy-solar-gadgets

Ran into a guy at the flea market who fixed my janky solar charger with a paperclip

I was at the Austin flea market last Saturday with my busted DIY solar phone charger that wouldn't hold a charge. This older guy named Frank walks over and asks if he can take a look. He points out my solder joint was cold, then pulls a paperclip out of his pocket and bends it into a little jumper wire to test the circuit. He said half his builds use stuff from junk drawers and old electronics. Showed me how to reflow the joint with just a cheap iron and some flux I already had. Got it working in 5 minutes flat. I felt like an idiot for not checking that first. Has anyone else had a random stranger fix your project with something dumb like a paperclip or twist tie?

Almost fried my phone charger board because of one comment

A guy on here said my 10W panel was way too small for the 3A charge controller I was using and told me to match the wattage properly. Swapped to a 20W panel and now it actually works without overheating, anyone else nearly smoke a project from mismatched parts?

PSA: My DIY solar phone charger went from 3 hour charge to 45 min after I cleaned the panel with dish soap

Had this little 5V panel sitting on my porch roof for like 6 months. It worked okay but my phone barely got any juice. Then last week I noticed a layer of bird poop and dust caked on there. Grabbed a sponge and some Dawn and scrubbed it off in 30 seconds. Now it actually works. Anyone else run into this or am I just slow?

Warning: wasted $25 on those flexible solar panel kits on Amazon

I bought one of those 20W flexible solar panels to charge my phone and a small fan while camping. It worked great for about 3 weeks, then the plastic started cracking at the edges. After a month, one of the cells just stopped working. I contacted the seller and they ghosted me. I should've just saved up for a rigid panel with a solid frame. Has anyone else had these flexible ones fall apart on you?

My solar phone charger was slow until I switched panel types - night and day difference in 2 hours

I built a small solar charger last month using a 5W polycrystalline panel. Took like 6 hours to fully charge my phone. Then I swapped to a 5W monocrystalline panel same brand. Charged my phone in 2 hours flat. Same setup otherwise. So is monocrystalline really that much better? Or did I maybe get a dud poly panel? Curious what you guys have seen with your builds.

TIL a blown fuse on my solar fan taught me more than any tutorial

I was testing my DIY solar fan in the backyard last Saturday, had it wired up to a 6V panel from an old yard light, and heard a pop when I hooked it to my battery pack. The fuse blew because I forgot to check the amp rating on the motor (it was pulling 2.5A, not the 1A I assumed). Has anyone else had a simple mistake like this totally change how you approach your builds?

Tried a solar panel from Harbor Freight vs one from an old broken garden light for a phone charger build, the cheap panel actually won

Just measured my little solar charger output on a cloudy day here in Portland

I always thought clouds meant basically zero power, but my 10W panel still put out 3.2 watts at noon with thick overcast. Got this from a Kill-A-Watt meter hooked up to a battery, has anyone else tested theirs in bad weather?

My brother said I could charge my phone with a potato and a solar panel, and it actually worked for 12 minutes before the whole thing caught fire on my porch.

He swore the potato would act as a stable electrolyte buffer but I think the direct sun just cooked the wires and now my neighbor keeps asking if I'm starting a compost cooker project has anyone else tried using root vegetables as solar charge regulators without burning down their house?

Debate: salvaged solar cells from yard lights vs buying new panels for a phone charger build?

Last month I rigged a 5V charger from three old garden light cells I pulled off a curb, but my buddy says new panels from Amazon would charge my phone twice as fast for only $12 more, so which route actually makes sense for a weekend project?

Camping last weekend changed my whole setup

I was out at Lake Pleasant with my buddy and his solar panel was charging his phone in like 2 hours while mine barely got 20%. He showed me how he just props his panel up on a rock facing the sun instead of laying it flat like I always did. Tried it myself and went from 5 watts to almost 12 watts in the same spot. Has anyone else had a simple angle change make that big of a difference?

Hot take: solar panel angle adjusters are worth the hassle or just a waste of time?

I built a little solar phone charger last month out of spare parts from an old garden light and a 5 volt regulator. Taped it to my window at home in Austin, pointing south, and it worked okay for about 3 days. Then a buddy told me I needed to tilt it at 30 degrees for my latitude, so I rigged up a hinge with some scrap wood and a bolt. Last week, I spent 45 minutes adjusting it every 2 hours to track the sun, and it did charge my phone 20% faster by the end of the day. But now I'm wondering if that extra time and effort is really worth it for a 20% boost, or if I should just stick with a flat panel and wait longer. For you guys, do you mess with angle adjustments on your little projects, or just slap it on and let it ride?

Friend told me my solar panel angle was totally off and I ignored him for months

Built a 15 watt phone charger last spring and aimed my panel flat on the roof, thinking sun hits everything the same. My buddy who does off-grid cabins said I was losing half my power and showed me his built in tilt stand that tracks the sun angle. Now I'm curious how many of you adjust your panels seasonally or just leave them flat because it's easier?

My solar phone charger started smoking when I aimed a magnifying glass at it for 'more power'

I figured if sunlight charges it, then concentrated sunlight would charge it faster, but I learned in about 4 seconds that melting a plastic USB port and filling my driveway with acrid smoke is not the same as supercharging, has anyone else tried boosting their solar panels with lenses and regretted it immediately?

Unpopular opinion: cheap Harbor Freight solar panels are fine for small projects

Kept seeing folks in here trashing the $20 panels from HF for not being efficient enough. I've had one on my garden light setup for 8 months now with zero issues. Anyone else using budget panels and actually getting solid results?

Warning: my solar fan project taught me something about panel angles I missed

I was building this little solar USB charger for my phone last week and my neighbor Bob walked over. He saw me just laying the panel flat on the ground and said "you know the sun moves right?" Then he showed me how tilting it 30 degrees towards the south doubled my output. I had watched like 10 YouTube tutorials and none of them mentioned that. Has anyone else found a simple angle trick that made a big difference?

That time my solar phone charger caught fire on the porch

I was out back in Phoenix last July, showing my neighbor how my DIY panel setup worked. First time I used those cheap recycled lithium cells from an old laptop battery, didn't balance them right. Next thing I know, smoke started pouring out of the charge controller box, melted the whole thing in under 3 minutes. I just sat there watching it, thinking 'well, that's $20 and a week of work gone.' Has anyone else had a battery pack go up on you like that?

Appreciation post: Harbor Freight solar panel vs Amazon no-name panel, the difference was night and day

Picked up a 100w panel from Harbor Freight last spring for my garden light setup. Worked fine, got the job done. Then I saw a 100w panel on Amazon for like $40 less, figured why not. That thing barely put out 60w even in full sun. Voltage was all over the place. Returned it and just bought another Harbor Freight one. I know they're not top tier but at least they actually hit their rated output. Has anyone else gotten burned by those cheap Amazon panels with fake specs?

Warning: Nearly smoked my phone charger with a backwards diode

I was out in my garage in Austin last summer soldering up a solar charge controller for an old phone battery pack. Forgot to check the polarity on the diode and hooked it up backwards - tiny little puff of smoke came off the board and I thought I killed the whole project. After letting it sit for an hour I swapped the diode right way around and it actually still works fine for charging my phone, though I keep a fire extinguisher nearby now. Anyone else had a brain fart with a component that ended up being recoverable?

Debate: Should solar panels face south for max power or east for longer charge time?

Talked to a guy at the hardware store who said he gets 2 extra hours of charge on his garden lights by facing panels east instead of south, but I measured 20% less peak power that way. Which matters more for a small phone charger build - peak watts or hours of collection?

Picked a 5V panel over a 12V for my phone charger build and regretted it

I had to choose between a 5V 6W panel and a 12V 10W panel for a portable phone charger I wanted to build last month. The 5V was smaller and cheaper at $12, so I went that route thinking it'd be simple. But even in full sun, it barely pushed 0.5A into my phone, and on cloudy days it was useless. My buddy used the 12V with a buck converter and gets a full charge in 2 hours. I should have spent the extra $8 and the hour to wire in a regulator. Has anyone else had luck pairing a 12V panel with their phone charger setup?

Stayed at a cabin in the Ozarks last weekend and their solar setup blew my mind

They had this tiny 10 watt panel hooked to a car battery that ran a fan and charged phones all weekend no problem. Has anyone else seen those cheap PWM controllers hold up better than MPPT for small builds?