The Solar Schoolhouse presents this video tutorial on how to use the Solar Cell Classroom Set. The purpose of this set is to give students hands on experience making electricity using sunlight. See what's inside the set, and then see how to wire three different types of electrical circuits: a simple circuit, a series circuit, and finally a parallel circuit.
Discover the power of raspberries! Literally. In this NurdRage science video, learn how some crushed raspberries and some titanium dioxide (TiO2) can create a powered dye-sensitized solar cell. Inside a raspberry is something called anthocyanin, which is a flavonoid pigment. Commercially purchased solar cells are way more powerful than this DIY solar cell, but with a little improvement, who knows. Nurd Rage also lets you know how this works.
Make a solar cell from a condom with this video tutorial. Solar energy is plentiful and better for the environment, so why not take an easily accessible commodity (like a condom), and use it to harvest the power of the sun. To replicate this hack at home, you'll need the following materials: 12 iron hairpins, 2 pennies (pressed before 1982), 2 electrical wires, 1 sheet of aluminum, 2 strong magnets, a condom, and mineral water. For more on making your own condom-based solar cell, watch this h...
If you want to save money on your electric bill, try building some of these solar panels using solar cells wired in a series. You can save money by using extra glass you or a friend may already own if it isn't being used. Soon you can harness the power of the sun by creating your own solar electricity.
Sputnik, Apollo and the Space Race. If you watched the State of the Union address last night, you probably heard President Barack Obama mention those three things.
What's the first thing you would do once you realized you were lost in, say, a desert? If you're like me, you would immediately pull out your cell phone and start dialing every number. But what if you have no service? What if your battery is dead?
Charge your cell phone, mp3 player or other USB-equipped device with the power of the Sun! All you need is a 6-volt solar panel and a female USB cable. Solder them together (this video demonstrates how), and then you have a solar powered USB charger!
Check out this Greener Business Show video tutorial on how to make a portable solar powered USB charger with an LED flashlight inside an Altoids tin can. You will see in this episode how to modify a solar path light into the Altoids tin so that you can have a nifty LED flashlight and so you can charge your iPod or cell phone in the gleaming sunlight.
Samimy is at it again. And this time, his ingenuity has tackled a clever way to take something old and broken and restore it to something new and useful. What are we talking about? Modding a broken hard drive and some busted cell phones into a useful rechargeable USB / solar-powered light, which also acts as a portable mobile charger.
If you're tired of replacing the batteries on your remote control and you would rather have the TV remote charge by itself, grab a few solar cells, rechargable batteries, and a few extra odds and ends. With this mod to your remote, you can let light charge your remote and never buy another battery for it again!
Power the clocks at your home with the sun! With a solar cell that costs around $5, you can convert a clock to solar power and avoid buying batteries or running up the electric bill. Instead, connect a rechargable battery to the solar panel with a few wires and some adhesive and soon you'll have enough energy to power your clock for as long as it lasts.
Check out this science video to see how to make a solar-powered miniature car. To make this solar-powered mini car, you'll need some balsa wood, a small motor, two steel rods, four wheels, four washers, a straw of any color, two gears, a solar cell, hot glue gun, a tape measure and a knife.
In this video, we learn how to make your own solar panel.The amorphous solar glass is the cheapest but it's also the least efficient. You can do anything you want with these and they are durable. The hexagon cells are the most efficient and most expensive as well. The poly crystalline is almost 2 watts a piece and can be purchase in lots of any size. You have to tab these cells together and they are extremely fragile. Be careful when you work with these. To make these, you will solder tabbing...
Sometimes it's more than just inconvenient when your electronics lose power. Sometimes, losing power could be dangerous. Never worry about a dead cell phone again! Charge your portable electronics by harnessing the power of the sun.
In this video you'll visit one of the largest solar power farms in the world to learn the difference between reflection and refraction. Unlike most solar farms, this farm uses giant mirrors instead of photo electric cells. Check it out.
This is a tutorial for how to use a multimeter to take volt and amp measurements of a silicon solar cell and solar modules.
An emergency battery charger for your mobile phone comes in handy, but it's not the ultimate solution; once it's dead it's useless (what a waste). If you want to really get off the metaphorical grid, you can follow the steps in this video to construct a more robust circuit that will not only bail you out of an inconvenient situation but also recharge in between uses. The simple addition of a low voltage solar panel and rechargeable batteries makes this possible. Enjoy!
It's hot this summer, but it's not that easy to cool down when you're on the go. You can't take an air conditioner with you, and a handheld fan will just tire you out, so you'll need to find more creative ways to cool down when you're on the go. One of these ways is a DIY solar-powered fan baseball cap.
Secretly shoot your voice across the room in stealth mode on a laser beam in this fun and easy project! Make Magazine and Kipkay present this cool spy trick. Build a simple laser communicator that transmits your voice across a room. You need an amplifier, radio, laser pointer, battery pack and a solar cell.
Want to stop wasting energy charging your USB devices? Transform some cheap solar-powered garden lights into your very own solar USB charger. For step-by-step instructions on replicating this hack yourself, watch this video tutorial. Just watch to see how to build your own solar-powered USB charger with a few solar panels from those garden lights and some floppy disk wiring.
Combine your iPod and a laser to send your music on the beam. Easy project that anyone can do, with the help of a little soldering. You will need your iPod, a solar cell, a laser, and a soldering tool. Watch this video circuitry tutorial and learn how to hook up an iPod to a laser for a laser-wired music experience.
You can do a lot more with playing cards than you'd think, like turn them into gift boxes, fling them like throwing stars, and make them levitate or disappear. You can even make them recharge your batteries. Instructables user Shawn Frayne was sick of having a bunch of dead batteries lying around, so he developed a cheap and easy way to always have a charged one within arm's reach by turning a normal playing card into a super simple solar-powered battery charger for rechargeable AA and AAA ba...
Omniscience is not required to make some really cool shit happen. Yes, it took a while, but we can make fuel from the Sun! Solar panels are basically our answer to God. And now that we can make solar electricity, finding the most efficient way to harvest it is tricky.
Use solar energy, wind energy, and recycled water to saved energy in your home. Learn about saving energy in your home with natural or solar power in this free video.
Solar power is one way that people have found to conserve energy. Learn how to install a solar panel from a professional in this free energy conservation video series.
As far as the world of consumer electronics goes, it doesn't get much greener than recycling solar panels. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to solder together broken solar panels, giving them new life as a functional AA battery charger, which produces about 6 volts in direct sunlight and about 3 volts indoors. In order to get started on this hack, you'll need a number broken solar panels (which can be had cheap for cheap on the Internet), a low-temperature soldering iron, silver-beari...
Learn how to cook using solar ovens. See how to cook eggs, peach cobbler cake, rice and dishes the solarcookingnut makes on a typical day.
There's nothing worse than when you come up with a brilliant idea while you're busy with other things and then promptly forget it. Whether it's the perfect ending for your novel or a comeback you should've said during that argument with your roommate last week, it's always annoying.
Plants all around us capture sunlight every day and convert it to energy, making them a model of solar energy production. And while the energy they make may serve the needs of a plant, the process isn't efficient enough to generate power on a larger scale. So, scientists from the University of California found a way to treat bacteria with chemicals that turned them into photosynthesis machines, capable of generating products we can convert into food, fuels, and plastics.
Video tutorial showing how to make your own solar-powered wireless security camera using an off-the-shelf solar panel and any wireless webcam. See creator site for more detailed graphics.
Solar Thermal Microgeneration may be used to reduce your hot water bill, fossil fuel use, and lower your carbon footprint. For water heating, water is collected from solar panels. It is used to heat the water, as it filters through the water heater. Some areas require all new homes to provide an energy rating to buyers. Solar thermal panels harness the suns energy and reducing the need for fossil fuels to heat water. You will need the combination of solar panels, a traditional water heater, a...
Solar lights are a great way to light up your garden. They are both inexpensive and eco-friendly, relying on solar power instead of electricity. In this short video, Mark Donovan of HomeAdditionPlus.com shows you how to set up solar lights.
Watch and learn how to make this awesome DIY toy car that runs off solar power. This makeshift mini-vehicle is made from a plastic bottle, small motor, tires, supports and a solar panel. See if you can replicate this interesting solar toy, or see if you can come up with a better and cheaper design!
Watch as Jordan, a 4-Her from Louisiana, shows you how to make a solar oven from a Pringles can. You can cook anywhere with this great oven; all you need is the sun! For more, as well as step-by-step instructions for building your own solar oven from a disused Pringles potato chip can, take a look!
This Home & Garden how to video is a DIY basic about accentuating outdoor living space with solar lighting. Watch and learn all about strategic placing of solar powered lighting to enhance the look and feel of your front yard. Always start with a plan before setting up and installing the lights on your walkways.
You may not have thunk it, but if you own a stainless steel water bottle you have a great tool that can be used for cooking. Although it won't make three course meals, a stainless steel water bottle can be changed so that you can cook soup, beans, and other small food items.
Solar panels have been around for quite some time now and more people are taking a shot at being "green" with their homes. Finding and picking the right solar panels can be easy, but getting it ready is another story. This is a task that many people try to tackle on their own, but is sometimes better to hire a professional. In this tutorial, you'll see what it takes to install solar panels on a home. It's easy to follow and can make life better for you and others. Good luck and enjoy!
This is a simple "take home" solar energy lamp project, based around a dirt cheap solar garden lamp, which suits enthusiastic ten-year-olds (with modest adult help).
If you've got a school science project coming up, or are looking for something fun to do with the kids, you can make this awesome solar system diorama that's shaped like a telescope so you can view the planets by looking into the telescope! In this video you will learn how to create this diorama that will impress even the most stern teacher!
Rick van Man of Container Gardening For Food details his techniques for making a solar-powered food dehydrator out of such household debris as scrap wood and old pint cans. The finished product looks amazingly professional! Truly a must-watch for any DIY-inclined gardening enthusiast.