Driving the FET is easy when it’s source pin is connected to 0 volts, not so straightforward in the circuit shown.
It’s conventional for circuits to have a common ground, so making and breaking the connection between solar panel and battery is achieved with the FET connected between the two positive terminals. This means that the [...]
I’ve added a few more solar panels to my system. All the panels on the toolshed are amorphous types; four 12 watt panels on the top and three 4.8 watt panels at the front. That adds up to 62.4 watts in theory although much less power than this is actually realised. I’ve measured the current [...]
Spotted this street sign near to where I work. A couple of observations.
This is far from optimal siting for a wind turbine - it really can’t be generating much power here. Having said that, it was turning, so it must be generating something.
This is a non-critical piece of signage, just advising that the speed limit [...]
This is where I store power generated by the solar panels. Currently I have two car batteries, neither of which is brand new - in fact I found the smaller one dumped at the side of the road. If you’re thinking these should be deep-cycle batteries, you’re probably right, although I want to use components [...]
I was wondering whether it would be possible to make solar panels. There are a number of people selling individual solar cells on ebay, and the price seems attractive at around 1 pound a watt. Problem is you don’t get the glass, aluminium frame or the plastic back sheet. You would also need to source [...]