Showing posts with label Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Energy. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 March 2017
High Intensity Energy Efficient LED Light
Here is a rechargeable LED lamp that gives you bright light for a long duration of time as it consumes little power. The circuit presented here is compact, automatic, reliable, low-cost and easy to assemble.
The circuit comprises power supply, battery charging and switching sections. The power supply section takes power from 230V AC mains supply without using a transformer. Capacitor C1 is used as an AC voltage dropper, a well-known transformerless solution. This helps to make the circuit compact without generating heat, as capacitor C1 dissipates negligible power. Capacitor C1 also protects against fluctuations in mains.
Current required for the battery charging circuit is provided by capacitor C1. Capacitor C1 discharges through resistor R1 when the circuit is disconnected from the mains voltage. This helps to prevent a fatal shock due to any voltage remaining in the input terminals. Capacitor C1 must be rated at least 440V AC, with mains application class X2.
The AC mains voltage after capacitor C1 is given to bridge rectifier diodes D1 through D4 to convert alternating current into direct current and filtered by capacitor C2. The voltage from point B+ is given to positive terminal of the battery (BATT), anodes of LEDs (LED2 through LED21) and transistor base-bias resistor R3 through slide switch S1. The circuit is operated in three modes (AC/charge, off and batt) by using three-position switch S1.
When switch S1 is in middle position, the circuit is off. When S1 is towards right, white LEDs glow by drawing power from 4V battery. When S1 is towards left, the circuit connects to AC mains and battery starts charging. The presence of AC mains voltage and battery charging is indicated by LED1. White LEDs remain off if AC mains supply is available and glow in the absence of AC mains.
When switch S1 is towards left position and AC mains is available, the battery charges through diode D6 and the white LEDs don’t glow. The negative DC path through diode D5 makes the transistor cut-off, preventing the battery current from LEDs to the negative terminal through the transistor. Thus the white LEDs don’t glow.
On the other hand, if AC mains is not available, charging stops and the base of transistor SS8050 gets positive voltage from the battery through slide switch S1 and resistor R3. The transistor conducts and the current flows from the battery’s positive terminal to the negative terminal of the battery through the
LEDs (LED2 through LED21), collector to emitter of transistor T1 and switch S1. Thus the white LEDs glow.
When the switch is in ‘batt’ position, the white LEDs (LED2 through LED21) get the supply directly from 4V battery through switch S1 and therefore all the white LEDs glow.
Assemble the circuit on a general purpose PCB and enclose in a suitable cabinet. Fix the mains power cord on the back of the cabinet and slide switch
and LEDs on the front side.
Schematic:
![]() |
| LED Lamp |
R1, 470K ohm
R2, 270 ohm
R3,R4, 470 ohm
C1, 1uF / 440V Maylar
C2, 220uF/ 16V electrolyte
D1-D6, 1N4007
T1, SS8050
S1, Sliding switch
LED1, Red LED
LED2-LED21, Bright white LEDs
BATT, 4V, 0.8AH
Sunday, 19 March 2017
Lighting Garden with Solar Energy Circuit Diagram
This is an economic circuit of a mini solar lighting system, solar panel 6V/2W is used to charge a rechargeable 4V/800mAh through a current limiting circuit load that uses a LM317T adjustable regulator 3 pin (IC1). Assuming a sunny day 6 hours, a panel will enviarr 2 watts for approximately 900mAh battery. The current can be reduced by increasing the value of R1, for example, 8.2 to 10 ohms ohms.
Lighting Garden with Solar Energy Circuit Diagram

Specification of a typical solar panel
6V/2W:Maximum power (Pm):
2WWorking Voltage (Vmp):
9VWorking Current (Imp):
220mAOpen Circuit Voltage (Voc):
10.5VPower Tolerance: -3% to 5%
Monday, 31 October 2016
Making a Solar Energy Powered an iPhone Battery Charger
The project was termed as Mighty Minty Boost as it was developed to function as iPod/iPhone charger with solar power. Aside from being small, it has a large battery capacity of 3.7V at 2000mAh and it accepts input power from 3.7V to 7V. As shown in the images below, it can become a compact USB power supply when the solar cell is removed after charging. The Velcro is used to secure the Mighty Minty Boost inside a backpack or messenger bag after unplugging the solar cell.
For faster charging, a larger solar cell can be attached to the bag. Enough power can be generated to fully charge an iPhone in about 5.5 hours and an iPod Touch in 4 hours using a slightly larger solar cell with 6V at 250mAh. The charger will automatically switch to trickle charging when the cell reaches full charge. The charging current is limited to 100mA when charging using the mini USB port and the charging is limited to 280mA when charging using the barrel plug jack

.
The materials needed to build the charger include a small solar cell, Lithium Polymer battery charger, minty boost kit, adhesive backed Velcro, Altoids tin, connector/wire, and small double adhesive squares as shown in the images below. An input power that ranges from 3.7V to 7V maximum can be accepted by the single cell Lithium Polymer. In bright sunlight, the solar cell maxes out at approximately 5V at 100mA. A larger solar cell with 6V at 250mA can be used for faster charging.

The images below show the assembly of minty boost kit where a JST connector is soldered to the minty boost PCB instead of connecting the battery holder in the kit. The minty boost circuit is allowed to connect to the Lithium Polymer battery charger circuit with this tiny connector. The minty boost is tested by connecting the battery pack and the charger circuit, the Lithium Polymer battery connects to the connector marked GND on the charger board and the minty boost connects to the connector marked SYS.

To fit the charger, a notch is cut out of the other side of the Altoids tin and used double sided adhesive to secure the charging circuit to the bottom of the Altoids as shown below. The bottom of either one of the circuit boards should not touch the bottom of the Altoids tin while reconnecting the minty boost PCB and the battery to the charging circuit.

Connecting or adding the solar cell can be done in different ways. Shortening the connector leads and plugging the barrel plug into the barrel jack on the charging circuit is one way. The other method is using another JST connector to replace the connector and plugging it into the third connector marked 5V on the charging circuit. Since there is no bog barrel plug sticking out of the side of the tin, using the second method is cleaner.
As shown in the photos below, some 2” Velcro was used to attach the solar cell to the top of the Altoids. To help protect the battery, a layer of clear packing tape was used for wrapping. N top of the two circuit boards, the battery pack is then set down. A red LED on the charger board will light up when the Mighty Minty Boost is set out in the bright sun. The iPod/iPhone/USB powered device can be connected once it is fully charged.

For faster charging, a larger solar cell can be attached to the bag. Enough power can be generated to fully charge an iPhone in about 5.5 hours and an iPod Touch in 4 hours using a slightly larger solar cell with 6V at 250mAh. The charger will automatically switch to trickle charging when the cell reaches full charge. The charging current is limited to 100mA when charging using the mini USB port and the charging is limited to 280mA when charging using the barrel plug jack

.
The materials needed to build the charger include a small solar cell, Lithium Polymer battery charger, minty boost kit, adhesive backed Velcro, Altoids tin, connector/wire, and small double adhesive squares as shown in the images below. An input power that ranges from 3.7V to 7V maximum can be accepted by the single cell Lithium Polymer. In bright sunlight, the solar cell maxes out at approximately 5V at 100mA. A larger solar cell with 6V at 250mA can be used for faster charging.

The images below show the assembly of minty boost kit where a JST connector is soldered to the minty boost PCB instead of connecting the battery holder in the kit. The minty boost circuit is allowed to connect to the Lithium Polymer battery charger circuit with this tiny connector. The minty boost is tested by connecting the battery pack and the charger circuit, the Lithium Polymer battery connects to the connector marked GND on the charger board and the minty boost connects to the connector marked SYS.

To fit the charger, a notch is cut out of the other side of the Altoids tin and used double sided adhesive to secure the charging circuit to the bottom of the Altoids as shown below. The bottom of either one of the circuit boards should not touch the bottom of the Altoids tin while reconnecting the minty boost PCB and the battery to the charging circuit.

Connecting or adding the solar cell can be done in different ways. Shortening the connector leads and plugging the barrel plug into the barrel jack on the charging circuit is one way. The other method is using another JST connector to replace the connector and plugging it into the third connector marked 5V on the charging circuit. Since there is no bog barrel plug sticking out of the side of the tin, using the second method is cleaner.
As shown in the photos below, some 2” Velcro was used to attach the solar cell to the top of the Altoids. To help protect the battery, a layer of clear packing tape was used for wrapping. N top of the two circuit boards, the battery pack is then set down. A red LED on the charger board will light up when the Mighty Minty Boost is set out in the bright sun. The iPod/iPhone/USB powered device can be connected once it is fully charged.

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