What started as a check on some garden solar lights, turned into an ultimately futile attempt to put a high power LED onto one of them. Turns out the incredibly detailed current and voltage specifications were a load of nonsense. So now I plan to build my own high power garden solar light with a 20W LED.
By Julian
Youtuber, shed dweller, solar charge controller aficionado
the higher wattage LED needs a higher voltage and from the picture I am guessing that those transistors are making a constant current for the LEDs. You need two batteries is series and to change the resistor to a smaller value resistor so you get a lot more current. It looks like the charging circuit may also need to be changed to give you a higher voltage to charge two batts in series…
I did it with Avasva plans.
A bit.. of topic maybe. Julian do you have any tip to solder the wire back to the glass? Mine went out of the glass and the solder don't stick. You seems you experimented a lot.
while you were in there changing out the resistor, WHY didn't you gut that board and put in NEW transistors and the other resistors? Those components were JUNK … you could have swapped out those parts for new and costs would be pennies!!!!
i love my sinometer.
i have one like the one on the left at the start. it leaks like a sieve.
chinese milliwatts divide by 10 for real figures. chinese amp hour divide by up to 50, chinese h/p divide by at least 2.
that must have been the solar lights P.M.P.O rating lol.
Hi Julian!
I have a little bit of experience with solar lamps, and I know that the current is set by an inductor in most applications. Try to change value of inductance and you will see "what you get". Then you could also to manipulate a resistance.
Actually you have 100uH on PCB. Try to install less than it but not too much.
This is great. Thank you for all of the vids! I am a home DIY kind of guy and I'm in school studying engineering. I'm starting to tinker around building stuff. I am also a backpacker. Could you maybe do a informational vid on the differences of the types of solar panels, their individual pros and cons, and maybe a way to identify the different types of panels. I'm looking to build a solar charger for my portable devices, and would love to hear your opinion on the solar panels. Thanks again for your time and effort. I have already learned a lot from you!
I ordered one of those 150w converters 3 weeks ago, its not fallen off the boat yet… I cant wait to see if mine will do 150w…
I actually need about 60w, which is why i bought it, same as i needed a reliable 700w inverter so bought a UPS style 'doxin' 2000w one, which only does about 1200w tops, and the charger side of it has died already 🙂
I don't care much for the panels made from crystalline silicon laid into a plastic trough and covered in resin. Bright sun seems to cause an expansion conflict that can fracture the cells causing little white lines across them to appear and their output to drop dramatically. The version where the silicon is on PCB laminate and then resined do seem good though.
The little amorphous panels sometimes have an extra line laser etched about 1mm in from the edge. I'm guessing it's to allow the protective laquer to form a moat round the panel, as the cells without it corrode at the edges badly.