Comments on: DIY: The SunCat Solar Rechargeable Battery

By: The clever greeny link thread.

The clever greeny link thread. — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:28:18 +0000

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By: JL

JL — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:44:12 +0000

To answer the questions posed…
1) the batteries will never overcharge – solar cell wraps only provide a trickle of current – they may take a long time… uh, they WILL take a longer time than in any charger! – to recharge, but they won’t ever overcharge, even as-built. They also don’t need to be very efficient, as any sun on part of the surface will provide the right voltage at a trickle current rate sufficient to recharge the battery, even if half or more is shaded.

2) they won’t heat up enough in the sun to be a problem, but you can move them into the shade for a few minutes before using them if they do get warm.

3) you can leave the solar cell sleeves on forever, or switch them to new batteries when the old ones no longer take a charge. They are “wired” using simple copper foil and conducting paste pen traces, not soldering (!), so changing them over is easy enough. That copper foil also comes on rolls for “leading” stained glass, it has an adhesive on one side, but you can use the uncoated side for conducting electricity – I do! (No need to strip a DSLR!) These batteries are designed for projects and are slightly smaller than what we buy in the store, so they have no covering; all you need to complete them is the solar cell wrap (I don’t have a source, sorry), some copper foil traces (see above), conductive paste (comes in “pen” form), and adhesive to hole the solar cell wraps on – possibly a good clear tape would work too.

Excellent idea, great project – I might have to try it myself – I use a lot of rechargeables!!

By: Belle

Belle — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 02:17:25 +0000

Another question, what material was it that you used for connecting the negative and positive poles to the solar cells? Is that copper or aluminum? Because it’s quite expensive to tear apart a DSLR.

By: Belle

Belle — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 02:09:39 +0000

Hello,I have a question. So, after charging are you supposed to remove the solar cells? Or just leave it there?

By: Carlos

Carlos — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:26:31 +0000

I really like the concept. However, I think it might be inefficient. After all, no matter how you position your batteries, there will always be some part of the solar panel that doesn’t get direct sunlight.

By: Glinda Fergusson

Glinda Fergusson — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:26:17 +0000

Thanks for this post, it certainly helped me in terms of how I can improve things. Speaking of improving, a good way to clean any type of window blind is to make use of a can of compressed air, or maybe a pet hair roller.

By: Luan Do ( deaf )

Luan Do ( deaf ) — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:12:04 +0000

Type your comment here…