Solar Powered Nocturnal Personal Fan
by Wonko the sane in Workshop > Solar
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Solar Powered Nocturnal Personal Fan
A small fan, driven by a hobby motor. Powered by 2x AA rechargeable batteries. The batteries are hooked up to a solar panel, which recharges them during the day.
The circuit is switched by a CdS cell (light switch) which means the fan switches on when it is dark enough, at night, hopefully.
Only after I'd built the (incredibly ugly - sorry, no photos available) prototype did I realise I could've bought a pesonal fan for $5 and hacked it instead.
Here's the schematic. Feel free to use it or improve upon it to your own satisfaction.
The circuit is switched by a CdS cell (light switch) which means the fan switches on when it is dark enough, at night, hopefully.
Only after I'd built the (incredibly ugly - sorry, no photos available) prototype did I realise I could've bought a pesonal fan for $5 and hacked it instead.
Here's the schematic. Feel free to use it or improve upon it to your own satisfaction.
Parts, Clarification, That Is.
The transistor is an ordinary NPN 100mA 45V.
The CdS I hacked from a solar garden light.
The solar panel came from the same place.
It's output is (rough estimate) 4.5V, 60mA.
I used an old hobby motor with a range of 2-6 volts. No special reason, it was handy. And the propellor came from a model plane.
That leaves the diode, 1N4004, and the two resistors, 1k and 10k.
The CdS I hacked from a solar garden light.
The solar panel came from the same place.
It's output is (rough estimate) 4.5V, 60mA.
I used an old hobby motor with a range of 2-6 volts. No special reason, it was handy. And the propellor came from a model plane.
That leaves the diode, 1N4004, and the two resistors, 1k and 10k.
Other Uses
This isn't really a step, more a note about other things I've done with this - putting a white LED driver circuit in place of the motor.
A variation of the idea of the solar garden light I got the parts from originally.
A variation of the idea of the solar garden light I got the parts from originally.