For school i have to build a house that has 5 working electric parts to it, i can power it any way i want and i have a couple solar cells left from science fair and i thought it would be cool if i made a “green” home for the project. I was wondering what kind of things run off of DC power and use very little power becuase like i said, i only have a few cells so all wired together under very bright light i MIGHT get 6 watts so you can see how im limited. and im not buying a 1000 dollar converter to change the power to AC either (for obvious reasons). So if you can think of any DC powered small electrical objects. Also i was wondering if LED christmas lights can run off DC? I can strip wires and cut and minipulate things to make them work to my needs soooooo…. thats it, thanks in advance, will pick best
i might be able to get a couple more cells and get 10 watts, and im asking this question so i dont waste money buying stuff ill never use again “experimenting”. and do they have batteries that can charge off DC? becuase that would help. and where can you find a DC electric motor for cheap?
Could i get like some tungsten out of an incandescent light bulb, connect it to a panel and put it in an old steel can from ravioli and make a space heater?
More Pages:
- Solar Energy: Solar Or Geothermal Energy To Replace 100 Percent Of All Electricity In House? (7/21/2011)
- Solar Products: What Kind Of Solar Charger Would I Need To Run My Portable TV? (8/16/2011)
- Solar Panel: 45 Watt Solar Panel Kit Harbor Freight? (6/30/2011)
- What are some of the best places to find quality “tabbed solar cells” online?
- Solar Lights: General Relativity Question? (8/18/2011)
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
you aint getting much out of 6 watts…… a handfull of leds maby.
why not add some rechargeable batteries to your circuit so you can run more sutff…… and say the solar panals charge the batteries.
LEDs only run off DC .
inverters convert dc to ac. you can pick up a 100watt inverter for about 40-50 bucks
almost anything that runs off ac can also run off dc….. the basic concept anyway
all these run off dc
electric motors
solonoids
logic circuits
relays
elecro magnets.
transistors
———
All batteries charge off dc
any functional space heater is going to want far more watts than your wlling to give
L.e.d.’s always run off of dc current as they are diodes. A converter would do you no good as the solar power you can generate would not have enough current to even make a converter out put anything. You can buy a cheap inverter fo less than $ 50.00 but as i said don’t bother. You can run tiny fans if there is enough current. You are really limited with 6 watts. I really cannot think of anything useful you could display in the house actually running off of the solar cell. Maybe a door bell a fake fridge and air conditioner but nothing real.
LEDs would be the best method to use your solar cells. Bright, low power consumption, last forever. But the areas where you use them would have to fit with the capabilities of your system.
Can you store their power for later use, or is it all direct to device? If you don’t have storage you might want to look into dc fans (will be small) or even alarm clocks with battery back ups (solar powered by day, battery power by night)
Some other dc powered items in a common home would be door bell systems, remote controls, even your home computer (the ac coming from the wall is inverted to dc for most electronics these days)
i like it you will pick the best!
we do the work for you and you pick the best! cool.
why are you in school? to learn! so learn! experiment.
you can emit light with LV- DC, you can ignite a fire with 1.5 DC
and you know this, so use a 1.5 DC motor to spin a razor blade that hits a AC cord and it shorts out on the wet carpet that then smolders and sends a green couch into flames.
then you call 911 and the nice firemen put out your nasty fire, and your landlady kicks you out of your home.
stay in school.
You should incorporate a rechargeable battery to make it more authentic.
You have to match the voltage output of the solar cells as well as the power that they can produce.
Run the wires to a rechargeable battery if you can obtain one which matches the voltage (should be slightly lower than the solar cells output under load).
Connect the LEDs to the battery but place a mock-up inverter in between the battery and the LEDs. (This Mock-up can be constructed from a small cardboard jewellery box.)
LED you can use for light (it would be better to purchase individual LED from an electronics components store). the LED christmas lights may consume more power than your solar cells can supply.
Single LEDs operating voltage can be as low as .7 volts. the LEDs in a string of christmas lights may have resistors built into them which would raise the working voltage of the unit.
Good Luck
yep led’s eat quite small amt of power. u can also try normal lil bubls (v small ones). U can stick plastic blades on a small ac motor (the one u find in toy cars, etc.) n turn it into a fan.
..now that makes an electric appliance!
i used to put bulbs behind pics in frames, redesign it n turn em into lcd flat tvs!
then roll sum high resistance wire (small part of it) and put it in a small metal box. that makes your room heater. (im considering your house will be small enough to match the proportions of these)
And the last appliance is up to u to think.. its your assignment afterall!