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Standalone Solar power LED, and I'm learning to hate Google

I figured hundreds if not thousands of DIYers like me at one time or another built a Solar Powered LED "Thingy" and posted what they did and how they did it. So I Googled, and what do I find, A million sites that want to SELL me solar powered stuff, or TreeHuggers telling me I NEED, no MUST, use solar powered stuff and "where to buy it".

So, here's what I'd like I need to run a 200ma load for 12 hours a day. I'm Florida so sunlight is plentiful. I've got several 5400mAh Lithium Ion battery packs (free), I've got lots of leds. i don't have any solar cells. I can soldier and read schematics. I can usually make things work. All I need is a pointer to some decent ideas.

I know Li-ion batteries need special chargers. I here a lot about "SuperCapcitors" I purchase stuff from Digi-Key and Mouser frequently. I'm not looking to make the most efficient led driver ever invented :) Just something that works..

I'm not to low to simply go buy a toy electric plane and rob it of it's "super capacitor" and goto the cheap chinese dollar store and buy some cheap yard lights to hack apart and make my project out of.

So, any suggestions?

--
Take Care,
James Lerch
http://lerch.no-ip.com/atm (My telescope construction,testing, and coating site)
http://lerch.no-ip.com/ChangFa_Gen (My 15KW generator project)

"Anything that can happen, will happen" -Stephen Pollock from:
"Particle Physics for Non-Physicists: A Tour of the Microcosmos"

" Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. "
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James Lerch
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I made a similar thing to you not that long ago - though it seems mine was a lot less powerful. I was running three red LEDs from a solar panel when a button is pressed (illuminated a display).

I used a 3.3v super cap to store charge when light was available to the solar cell and to drive the LEDs when it was off. supercaps are far easier to drive than Li-Ion cells and I imagine (though I'm not certain) that they are more efficient.

It worked great and I guess it would just be a case of scaling things up (there are BIG supercaps around for powering electric vehicles)

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Brendan Gillatt
www.brendangillatt.co.uk
GPG: 0x6E265E61
Reply to
Brendan Gillatt

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