Schottky diode experiments – zero forward voltage?
Imagine the perfect diode. It would have a zero forward voltage. Well, in a tightly controlled environment (complete with dodgy…
Solar power system with 20w panel, pwm5 controller and sla gel battery
Small solar power setup with a 20W polycrystalline panel, PWM5 solar charge controller and 7Ah SLA gel battery. PWM5 controller…
Mppt solar charge controller #2 – volts, amps, watts now displayed
Both the voltage and current sensors are now fitted and the code written. The display now shows volts, amps and…
Using the acs712 hall effect current sensor module part 1
Using the ACS712 current sensor to measure current in a circuit. Benefits are that it can measure current in the…
How useful is a 1.5w solar panel?
This low-cost (£10) solar panel is rated at 1.5W and is designed to keep a car battery topped up when…
Shorting out 140 volts – crazy or what?
Shorting out around 140 volts from these small solar panels produces an interesting result. Disclaimers: Don't do this at home.…
20w solar panel / 21w bulb – a perfect match? part 3
Using a switched mode DC/DC converter to transform voltage down and current up. This helps match the load to the…
20w solar panel / 21w bulb – a perfect match? part 2
All the numbers, graphs, calculations and theorems!
20w solar panel / 21w bulb – a perfect match? part 1
What happens when you connect a 21W light bulb to a 20W solar panel? A bright shiny light? Perfect synergy…
Capacitor wars: tantalum vs ceramic
After blowing up a tantalum capacitor by inadvertently connecting it the wrong way round, I thought I'd investigate high value…