I have a small battery driven water pump, for an 18.9 liter water jug. It takes 2 x 1.5 D batteries. I'm using duracells and they've lasted a long while.
I would like to try a bit of DIY solar and run this pump that way.
I have some limited abilities in electronics, but after lurking for a while, this appears to be the place to learn a lot.
Does anyone know of something cheap and dirty? Or better?
I have a small battery driven water pump, for an 18.9 liter water jug. It takes 2 x 1.5 D batteries. I'm using duracells and they've lasted a long while.
I would like to try a bit of DIY solar and run this pump that way.
I have some limited abilities in electronics, but after lurking for a while, this appears to be the place to learn a lot.
Does anyone know of something cheap and dirty? Or better?
if the pump runs on 3v worth of alkaline batteries then converting it to solar shouldn't be a problem. replace the two alkaline batteries with three NiMH or NiCad batteries and get yourself a cheap 12volt solar panel. Don't worry about hooking up a 12v panel to 3.6v worth of batteries - it will not cause any harm. Connect the cells to the batteries through a rectifier diode (1n4001 or whatever, it doesn't really matter). Should be able to get this done for under $20 US, probably a lot less if you shop around on the solar panel.
that person decided to use individual solar cells instead of a panel, either way is ok. I don't think buying raw cells is any cheaper, and certainly not as easy to work with.
these guys have a lot of surplus solar at low prices