Solar Thoughts blog

Food for thought

A personal blog about DIY Projects, Technology & Solar Power

Tag: Experimental

  • Why Survivalists should own at least one solar panel

    Why Survivalists should own at least one solar panel

    Perhaps you’re not really into solar, but are a survivalist or into preparedness, prepping etc. I would argue that everyone should own at least one (or two +) 100 Watt 12 Volt solar panels as part of their survival and preparedness kit. They are truly a high tech Swiss army knife. Plus a 100 Watt…

  • Low Voltage Solar Panels can cook food directly – And why it matters

    Low Voltage Solar Panels can cook food directly – And why it matters

    Did you know it’s possible to cook food directly off low voltage solar panels? No inverter, no high voltages, no battery, no charge controller. It’s technically feasible, and I have done it several times now with prototypes developed in my solar workshop. The simplicity and efficiency of such a setup is nothing short of astounding.…

  • Ryobi 18v Solar Battery Charger DIY project

    Ryobi 18v Solar Battery Charger DIY project

    Wouldn’t it be great if Ryobi 18v power tool batteries could be charged directly from a 100 watt solar panel? A while back I developed a prototype which achieved this aim successfully. Products like this should already be on the shelf. With solar power, efficiency is a good thing. The normal route involves the solar…

  • Are wall mounted solar panels worth it?

    Are wall mounted solar panels worth it?

    I took the chance of mounting some 100w monocrystalline solar panels on the wall of my metal building (solar workshop). If interested, check out my video of the setup at the bottom of the page. I really needed some extra power for lab experiments and so forth, but did not want the burden of more…

  • Risky Solar Experiments in my shop – part 1 PV Solar Netbook

    Risky Solar Experiments in my shop – part 1 PV Solar Netbook

    I often wondered what would happen if I took a 12V solar panel with its high VoC (Voltage Open Circuit) and plugged it straight into a netbook or laptop! It is my opinion that all laptops, netbooks and mobile computing devices should accept a direct Solar PV input – it’s easy to do, a nice…