PV Gap

Henry Said:

Can something that is solar powered get wet?

We Answered:

Assuming it's designed for outside, it really shouldn't have any problem getting wet, metal or not. It's not to be submerged or heavily splashed, but you shouldn't have to take a frog in out of the rain :)

Sidney Said:

Share a bit of useful information?

We Answered:

Baking soda makes for a great alternative to tooth paste to help whiten your teeth or to just use when you are out of toothpaste.


Use the water that you steamed veggies in to water house plants, it doesn't only reuse water, but it actually adds nutrients to your water for the plants.

Eating asparagus and garlic works as a natural pesticide to ward off mosquitos.

Nursing mothers that eat a diet rich in garlic statisucally have babies that nurse longer at the breast, adding some garlic to the diet of a mother with a finicky eatter can prove to be very helpful.

Hair spray works wonderfully to remove ink stains.

When pulling your clothes out of the dryer, hang onto the old dryer sheets to dust off the top of the dryer as well as counter tops around the house, dryer sheets collect dust very well.

When your toddler gets into the stage of ripping jammies off and then diapers, put sleepers on backwards when they go down to sleep, (cut tags out though so they aren't itchy in front.)

A little baking soda with water is the best cure for fast heartburn and stomach distress.

Duct tape or large packaging tape works great for removing lint or pet hair from your clothes when you can't find a lint brush.

Tanya Said:

How do you set up outdoor power for Christmas lights?

We Answered:

Go to your local home building store. In the electrical department you will find a "Y' connector on one side you put in a plug in and the other a light bulb. You screw the "Y" connector into your outdoor light. This gives you one out let, without losing your porch light. The cost for this set up should be about $3.00.

Edwin Said:

How to connect solar power ?

We Answered:

Hey Hausawa, I need to start by asking, is that 600 watt-hours your lights use, or is it actually 600 watts when running? It is a lot to ask of a 75 watt panel. You might be able to run a 600 watt light from an 800 watt inverter, or it might not start up, but your battery would be quite dead after a night or two, and that 75 watt panel, which puts out about 4 amps during peak sunlight, will take days to recharge the battery.

At any rate, the information you need, and much more is easily found at Home Power Magazine. It's the only periodical that covers this material with any depth. In most of thier issues, there are several articles on people who have done projects like yours, and larger ones. They always include wiring diagrams and sources for information, plus places to purchase any other parts you need. We started reading it 11 years ago. Our home is now entirely powered by the wind and sun. It was a steep learning curve at first, and we made plenty of mistakes. My suggestion is you do some reading first before trying to hook it all up cold turkey. With a 200 amp hour battery pack, you could hook that panel directly to the battery without any charge controller because its peak amperage is less than 2% of the battery's amp hour capacity. Check out Richard Perez's book at the library for a better explanation of this. All you need is a diode to keep the battery from backfeeding the panel at night. You can find one at Radio Shack for about 79 cents. Make sure it is rated at least 25 peak inverse volts and 6 amps forward current.

We started with a small system just like the one you are trying to build up. If you subscribe to Home Power, you can use their search to look for an old article called, "Trying the Small System First." It is actually about our first system. Good luck, and take care, Rudydoo

Johnnie Said:

Watch and help? safe solar hack?

We Answered:

for the most part it's perfectly safe in so far as there's very little risk of injury from such low voltages, however you really do need to measure the output of your solar cell array.

USB runs at about 5 volts.. You can think of voltage as electrical pressure.. it's what makes electrical current flow. Current, on the other hand, is measured in amperes.. If you look at your AC Adapters for things like your ipod or cellphone, it will show you what they are rated at.

The most important thing to pay attention to is the voltage.. too much voltage and you can damage your electronics.. it's okay to go a little bit above - up to perhaps 6 volts.. but don't go much beyond that. The current is determined by the resistance of the load. the charger for my cellphone is rated at 850 milliamperes which means that's the most current it can supply but in many cases it may not have to supply that much.

It's okay to build a supply that has too little voltage or too little current in the sense that it isn't very likely going to damage your electronics, and it's okay to have a charger that can provide way more current than you need (the amperes or milliamps) because your device will only draw what it needs.. the voltage cannot be too high because that will damage the electronics.

If you can get your solar cells wired up in such a way that you can get right around 5 volts and at least 200 milliamps, (the more the merrier) then you'll be fine. if you're really worried about the voltage, get a voltage regulator and include that in your circuit.

Tonya Said:

Share a useful bit of information?

We Answered:

Sears "wear out before they grow out program". I buy all my kids jeans there and if they wear them out, like in the knees, you take them back and they'll give you a brand new pair for free. AND if it's a Sears brand, like Canyon River Blues, you don't even need a receipt.