A DIY Solar Charger functions like a fully charged solar power plant. It can be built out of solar panels and rechargeable batteries and give up to eight to twelve hours of energy depending up on the device being used. If you have a solar inverter, then the DC current can be converted to AC. If you can add more solar panels then you can generate more power. It will cost you around $140 to 160, take you 3 hours approximately to make it with this step-by-step guide. What a fun weekend project!
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You will need: Pieces of wood or scraps of bamboo, a 12 volts solar panel with an output of 5 watts and a plastic mono-plug of ¼ inch. Other things on the list are a solar DC charge controller appropriate or a solar panel, 12 AH rechargeable batteries of 12 volts each and 4 ft of 18 gauge wire-mesh. You could get these at the local hardware or online stores. Furthermore 2 Female terminal- disconnects, a DC solar panel meter which measures up to 15 Amp, a Connector from Reese Tow power and a Y-shaped adapter also known as the Cigarette-lighter. The first step is how to build the case for the DIY solar charger. The bamboo scraps can be glued together.We choose bamboo because it is renewable and grows up to a meter per day, it is biodegradable, therefore eco-friendly.
After you have glued it together, cut holes in the box or ventilation and these will provide finger holes to carry the box. This box will also frame the DC charger and controller As well as the batteries. Now your DIY solar charger needs a source of power to run it. Attach the solar panel, find out which latitude you live on; if is it at 22N for example, then attach your solar panel at an angle of 22 degrees from the top surface of the box.
The angle is necessary to ensure optimum charging of the solar panel. You could even add a tilt bracket which would allow you to adjust the bracket to follow the sun and gain maximum charging. It is important to leave space beneath the solar panel and the controller inside the box for ventilation. Now to make the DIY solar charger work, we wire it up. Cut out the cigarette lighter plug then solder on the mono plug to the adaptor. Now put the mono plug into the output outlet in the controller, it should be 12 volts.
Now put all the 4 power leads of the solar panels and the batteries into the input terminals of the controller. Next, attach the meter to the terminal used for the solar panel. If you require more power, plug in more solar panels and batteries but keep within the 12 volts limit of your controller. Now connect the batteries after you have checked their voltage with voltmeter then connect the red wire to the female terminal and then to the positive battery terminal and connect the black wire to the negative terminal. To test your DIY solar charger take it into sunlight and plug-in something to see if it charges!
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