The Ergosphere
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
 

Micro-AE experiment

I've not had the available facilities to do much in the way of alternate energy stuff, but a happy coincidence made an experiment possible.

Some time ago, I bought a cheap AM/FM radio which claimed you could power it 3 different ways:

This radio initially charged itself and ran on solar power for some time, but its endurance shrank until it would not run on stored solar power at all and could eke out maybe a minute after a good amount of twisting the crank.  I opened it up, and found its battery was a pair of NiCd button cells mounted to the PC board; not exactly the best storage system, and probably the cause of its failure.  But it didn't charge all that quickly to begin with, and I wondered what I could do with this to make it useful again.

Then a busted solar-powered driveway light fell into my hands.  The plastic top and electronics were still intact, so I appropriated it.  It has two AA NiCd cells and a solar array about two inches square on the top.  The cells are in spring-loaded holders which make them easy to remove (no solder tabs or other difficult stuff).

To prevent the cells from discharging at night, I have to remove one from the holder at dusk.  But they fit into the little radio just fine, and I've been listening to it for several hours now.  Am I depleting the cells more than tomorrow's sun can charge them?  I suppose there's no good way to find out except to keep testing them.

Aside from being a useful test of an otherwise-useless device as a solar AA charger, it's an interesting little bit of consciousness-raising.  If I can find a good way to mechanically mount the solar cells to the radio and reconnect the battery circuit so it uses the AA holder instead of the button cells, I could use this unit as either a long-playing solar radio or a hand-crank charger for just about any AA rechargeables.  But the hacking potential of this unit will have to wait until I've built my rotating Scrabble board holder and some shelf-mounting brackets for my windows so I have someplace to put my houseplants.  Got the wood and the tools, now I just need the time....

Update 10/17 21:43  One gray day was all it took to reduce the playing time to 20 minutes or so.  It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow afternoon; I'll tell you how it goes.

Update 10/19 21:43  The radio ran for an hour and a half last night after a sunny afternoon; the batteries still had zing left.  I put them in to charge again this morning, and I've been using them for about two hours so far.  Still going strong.

As a cheap battery charger and recycling method for a busted piece of outdoor ornamentation, this is mighty hard to beat.

 
Comments:
Speaking of last a long time, EP...
World Changing has an interesting timeline "Thriving of Earth Forever"
 
Post a Comment



<< Home
Talk largely about energy and work, but also politics and other random thoughts


Mail Engineer-Poet

(If you're mailing a question, is it already in the FAQ?)

Important links

The FAQ
Glossary
The Reference Library

Blogchild of

Armed and Dangerous

Blogparent of

R-Squared




The best prospect for our energy future:
Flibe Energy

ARCHIVES
January 1990 / February 2004 / March 2004 / June 2004 / July 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / November 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / August 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 / September 2010 / October 2010 / November 2010 / December 2010 / January 2011 / February 2011 / March 2011 / April 2011 / May 2011 / July 2011 / August 2011 / September 2011 / October 2011 / April 2013 / November 2013 / December 2013 / January 2014 / February 2014 / March 2014 / April 2014 / July 2014 / August 2014 / September 2014 / October 2014 / November 2014 / February 2015 / April 2015 / October 2015 / March 2016 / April 2016 / May 2016 / June 2016 / July 2016 / November 2016 / December 2016 / February 2017 / May 2017 / June 2017 / September 2017 / October 2017 / November 2017 / March 2018 / May 2018 / June 2018 / October 2018 / December 2018 / January 2019 / March 2019 / June 2019 / October 2019 / November 2019 / March 2020 / June 2020 / December 2020 / March 2021 / April 2021 / May 2021 / July 2021 / January 2022 / February 2022 /


Powered by Blogger

RSS feed

Visits since 2006/05/11: