__Term FOUR Project__

For this project, I collaborated with Will P. on a very unique device. Our objective in this project was to build a solar powered device that could charge a double A battery and charge a cellular phone.

Here is a little information on solar cells. They work as a semiconductor that converts photons from the sun into electricity. The cells are usually made out of silicon and consist of a single layer p-n junction diode. A p-n junction is formed by combining a N-type semiconductor with a P-type semiconductor. A single solar cell generally puts out 0.5 volts. Solar cells and solar power are usually used in areas of extreme remoteness. Some appliances that run on solar power are space satellites, handheld calculators, and remote radiotelephones.

Our first step in the assembly of our solar powered device was to round up all the appropriate materials. The materials needed to complete the device are as follows

The next step in the assembly of the solar powered charger was probably the trickiest and most fun task. We had to teach ourselves how to solder onto solar cells, which are very fragile. This took a lot of practice but eventually we both got into the hang of it and thoroughly enjoyed doing it. Next step was to cut out a piece of foam that the solar cells can rest on so they are not broken while trying to move them. We had to make sure that the piece of foam was still the right size to fit within our plastic/glass case. We then started to solder solar cells to each other, making sure to go front to back and so on. After we had made a circuit of about fourteen solar cells, we soldered on electrical wires to each end of the circuit, representing negative and positive.

Our next step involved the multi-meter. We had to make sure that our solar powered device was putting out enough volts to power the cell phone charger and to charge a battery. The amount of volts needed to charge the battery is 3. The amount of volts needed to power the cell phone charger is 5. Our solar powered device consistently put out 5 - 5.5 volts when we applied the artificial light so we were all set to power both objects.

We then cut the cell phone charger in half and attached the negative wire to the negative wire on our device and the positive wire to the positive wire on our device. We placed our foam piece inside of our case and put an artificial light source shining on it. To our great satisfaction, the cell phone immediately started to charge. We then tried the battery charger. We attached the negative wire from the battery charger to the negative end of our circuit and the positive wire from the charger to the positive one on our circuit. We applied the artificial light source and waited for about 5-10 minutes. After the time elapsed, we took our multi-meter and tested how many volts the battery was putting out, and to our satisfaction it had gone up 1-1.5 volts.

Hopefully, by following the steps we took and checking out the way the guys did it at cleanpower.thesietch.org you can assemble your very own solar powered device for charging batteries or cell phones. You could even go on a camping trip with your device and still keep your cell phone charged.

If I were to approach the organizer project again differently, I would probably take the same steps as in research of bats and their ideal living environment. I would keep the bathouse black in paint because that attracts bats. I would also keep the type of nails I used because they were also black and wouldn't rust outdoors. What I would change in the bathouse would have to be how many dividers there are inside the house. After sending our project to a more experienced man in the field, that was the only major thing that he would have us change.

As for the most useful thing that I learned in this course I would honestly have to say it's the soldering. Not only soldering but soldering solar cells which are like eggshells and break with the slightest amount of force. I had never even heard of soldering and even pronounced the L in it when I first came into this course. Coming out I've picked up knowledge and skills that I will have with me forever.

As for the most surprising thing that I learned in this entire course, it would probably have to be my own interest in the projects that we did. When I joined the course I thought that I wouldn't really know what was going on and wouldn't really care too much about the dynamics of it. I was very surprised, especially during the organizer project, the put-put boat project, and the final term project involving the solar powered energy. I was extremely interested in these projects and what made them work.