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solar power muhaha

maramormaramor
edited July 2012 in Ask an Evil Mad Scientist
OK so I am a total newb with a hankering to create :) 

I got these solar cells .5v .5a built 2 rows of 9 for a total of 18 cells, does that mean it should baring all cells work equally as advertised 
.5*21=9volts and 9amps
9*9=81 watts

What other things, do I need to know?

I understand solar array works at smallest cell in reality, i am just trying to understand the way it works.  
with this said what kind of batteries can it charge,  how many NiMa AA or AAA?

thanks in advance!

Comments

  • UgiUgi
    edited July 2012
    I assume that by "rows" you mean that you have joined the cells in series. 

    Voltage adds as you place solar cells (or indeed batteries) in series so, with a row of 9 you generate 9 x 0.5 = 4.5v.  About right for charging 2-3 x 1.2v NMH batteries in series through a blocking diode.

    The current (amps) adds in parallel, so with on row you still only have 0.5A.  That's actually more than you want for trickle-charging AAs which usually have a capacity of around 2-3000 mAh.  Unless you are going to be careful to take them off charge when they are fully charged, you don't want more that 0.2-0.3 A.  So with one row of 9 cells you could charge 2 "rows" of 2 or 3 AA NiMH batteries.  So you could trickle-charge 4-6 AAs with your string of 9 solar cells.  They would take around 14 hours in full sun.

    Ugi
  • maramormaramor
    the solar cells are tabbed together 9x2 with bus bar on top and bottom.  i might have the bus bars wrong which is why i was asking the concept so i know what to expect. i know when i took it out side it did get volts but didn't understand how it works LoL

    the solar cells are fairly small and only have one solder spot through the middle.  


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