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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

My Idea:Solar powered laser

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Feb 16, 2010
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My idea is to take a 3V solar panel and connect that to 5 1F Super capacitors and during the day, you let it charge and you connect that to your laser. Will that work?:) Can that provide enough current? And what if i use only 1.1 Farad? how long will that power my laser for?
 
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Feb 16, 2010
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Yes but Those batteries have memory effect which i hate:scowl:
And i dont know at what voltage to charge it at
 
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Oct 24, 2009
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a simple solar charger for 3 volts is easy to make, and I believe you are thinking of NiCd batteries, they are all but obsolete these days.

Lithium ion cells are another option, they are awesome.

Caps won't hold the charge for long at all, and the size, oh my that many farads is going to be huge.
 
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Ok I will Il solder up everything right now and post pictures
Im going to use only about 1.1F
 
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Nah its not going to work because i charged up my 1F capacitor and connected it to my laser and my laser only gave a short burst of power for half a second and then it dims pretty fast. There is not enough electrons inside
 

mfo

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NiMh batteries do not have memory effect. Just use those.
 
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Those supercapacitors are not intended for uses like this - they are designed for powering stuff like memory backup circuits with incredibly small power requirements (probably in the microamp range) these capacitors have a high internal resistance and cannot sustain high discharge currents like typical capacitors.
 
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Those supercapacitors are not intended for uses like this - they are designed for powering stuff like memory backup circuits with incredibly small power requirements (probably in the microamp range) these capacitors have a high internal resistance and cannot sustain high discharge currents like typical capacitors.

I knew they were slow discharge, but did not know the current. That sucks.
 
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I love your idea of using Li-ion batteries but i want to make a wall adapter and i found the ratings on the charger for the CR123 batteries. They charge at 4.2 Volts and i found a 6V wall adapter that is very old and i think it is used to charge my old phone set. Well, i measured it and it is 6 volts. How can i lower the voltage without using resistors?
 




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