Help : Solar Lantern Project

[dufferdev]

Hello Friends,

I am a newbie and have to develop a solar lantern for my college project. The lantern should have following features:

1) Solar Undercharge and Over Charge protection
2) AC Adapter charging (I think we can use the same Solar Over and Under Charge circuit for this. Except we need to get appropriate voltage from the AC Adapter.
3) Mobile charging circuit
4) LED Dimmer (Push button types and not POT based)
5) 6V Battery will be added to store the power

Here is a list of the circuits I found on Web and planning to use:

1) 6V Solar Charge Controller - SCC2 10 Amp Solar Charge Controller
This circuit does not have battery over discharge circuit. Please help me incorporating it. Also guide me if the same circuit can be used to charge the battery either by Solar Panel or AC Adapter.

2) Mobile Charging Circuit
Found many circuits but none on 6V battery. Please advise what can be done to modify 12V Battery source to 6V battery source. Or if you have a 6V it would be a great help.

3) LED Dimmer
Again same problem. I have found many circuits but none on 6V battery. Please advise what can be done to modify 12V Battery source to 6V battery source. Or if you have a 6V it would be a great help.

Any input will be appreciated... Need your valuable comments...

Thanks a lot
Dev

 

[audioguru]

You selected an old, rare and hardly used anymore Lead-acid 6V battery.
Why not use a modern lithium battery? Or an old 12V battery?

Does a solar panel work in winter in your part of the world?

 

[dufferdev]

Hi,

Thanks for replying.... Basic Idea is that we need to make this lantern very cost effective.
We reside in India and India has more than 300 days of bright sunlight.....

12V battery is expensive as compared to 6V lead acid battery. Also 12V solar panel will be expensive as compared to 6V panel. Therefore we decided to use 6V.

Kindly guide me how can I resolve this issue ?

Thanks
Dev

 

[audioguru]

Have you calculated the current draw of the lantern and the duration you want a battery charge to power it?
Then you will know the size (cost) of the solar panel and battery.

Will the lantern use LEDs or a fluorescent light?

 

[dufferdev]

Hi audioguru, The current drawn will be 350 mA at 3V for the Power LED. And 5.5V at 800mA for the Mobile charger.

 

[audioguru]

Does anybody make a solar panel that is made to charge a 6V lead-acid battery?