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http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
Author:Honus Multi-Bot
I'm a former bicycle industry designer turned professional jeweler.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
Image Notes 1. 3.7v 2000mAh LiPoly battery 2. double sided adhesive squares 3. Velcro 4. trusty multitool 5. JST connector 6. Sparkfun single cell LiPoly charger 7. Adafruit MintyBoost kit 8. Sparkfun small solar cell 9. multimeter
Image Notes 1. 3.7v 2000mAh Lithium Polymer battery 2. Sparkfun single cell Lithium Polymer battery charger
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
Image Notes 1. battery goes here 2. MintyBoost goes here 3. USB power in 4. 3.7 to 7v power in
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 835 comments
Sep 27, 2010. 1:28 PM REPLY
Landcruiser87 says:
Love this setup,
I plan on building a 12V system for other power hungry applications, but instead of a flimsy altoids can, i decided to beef it up a bit with a pelican project box. If anyone has any suggestions about how to cover ports a little better, that would be great. Check it out! Love the instructable! Great work.
Honus says:
Sep 27, 2010. 7:16 PM REPLY Looks awesome. Pelican cases are great- I have a large one that's over 15yrs old and it's still going strong. Maybe for port covers you could mold some silicone plugs. Try Sugru!
Landcruiser87 says:
Sep 28, 2010. 1:14 PM REPLY Thanks! They're possibly one of the best made containers of any sort. I've been using them for various things here and there over the past 7 or 8 years. I like the idea of using Sugru for port covers! I was having all sorts of failed trials with grommets, silicon and other failed devices, but sugru might just be the ticket. Thanks Honus!
Honus says:
No problem- let me know how it works out!
fsato413 says:
Hello Honus, thank you for being generous and answering all the posted questions!
I just bought the v3.0 kit and I bought the new USB LiPoly Charger-single cell at sparkfun electronics as suggested by the Instructable website. The older charger circuit board seem to have connections for the battery, the mintyboost PCB and for the solar panel. I'd like to connect the solar panel to circuit board without the barrel plug ( or is the barrel plug more efficient? ) but don't know where to connect the solar panel wire to...And lastly I'd like to know if the LED for the charger turns off when the battery is fully charged. Thanks again Honus!
Honus says:
Jul 25, 2011. 11:39 PM REPLY The easiest way to connect a solar cell to it is to use an old mini USB cable and splice that to your solar cell as shown on this pagehttp://ladyada.net/make/solarlipo/ It really doesn't make any difference what type of connector is used as far as efficiency is concerned. Since the charger has a mini USB port that's the type of connector you want to use.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
I believe the LED should turn off when the battery is fully charged but I'd have to do some more research to make sure that is the case.
fsato413 says:
Hey Honus,
I was able to assemble everything and seemed to be working fine. The other day I wanted to see how much it would charge in 1 hr so I firsts got the new battery and used up all the charge on my iphone4, which charged my phone 68%. Once I checked that it no longer was charging my iphone battery I unplugged the iphone and left the solar charger out in the sun for an hour. Then I brought it in to charge my phone but it only charged 2% of my iphone4 battery....Is this about right? Because based on what I have been reading, it takes 20hrs to fully charge the Lipo battery which means the fully charged Lipo battery will only charge 20% of my iphone battery? Just a side note. I measured the voltage of the Lipo battery after the 1hr charge and it read 3.4V. The capacity of the battery is 3.7 which is the same capacity for the iphone4 lithium ion polymer battery, so shouldn't it charge the battery up to 100% theoretically? Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks again.
Honus says:
Aug 3, 2011. 5:09 PM REPLY No- the battery capacity is not directly related to battery voltage. The LiPo used for the solar charger has a capacity of 2000mAh. The battery for an iPhone 4 has a capacity of 1420mAh. The MintyBoost circuit has an efficiency of around 85% so theoretically if the solar charger LiPo is fully charged (the charger turns off) it should fully charge your iPhone battery.
fsato413 says:
Aug 6, 2011. 10:08 AM REPLY I charged my phone for a good 14hrs where there is no sunlight interruption and once I tried plugging into my Iphone 4 it stopped charging after it charged 20% which is a great improvement from my last 2%...but it should be charging more than 20%. I bought another kit to see if it was something wrong with the first one but the second one still gives me the same result. The charger CB with the LED turns on properly for both of the kit. This is my layout of the case if it helps to help me solve this problem. Also I left the charger outside without the case when I was charging since the case was not ready at that point ( just the naked LiPo battery, PCB, charger and solar panel all connected). Could this have been the problem? I really want this to work :(
IMG_0795[1]1 MB
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Honus says:
Aug 6, 2011. 10:50 AM REPLY The images don't show up but I'll see what I can do help. Let's eliminate as much as possible. Do you have a cell phone charger with a mini USB connector? Try fully charging the LiPo ( wait until the charger LED is off) using that and then plug in your phone and see how it does. That will tell you if it's a problem with your solar cell or charger. If not leave the LiPo out in the sun until it is fully charged- until the LED on the charger turns off the LiPo isn't fully charged no matter how long it's left outside. After the LiPo is fully charged disconnect it and check the voltage at the battery and let me know what that is. To a certain degree the time it is left out in direct sunlight is irrelevant as that isn't a good indicator of the charge the LiPo is getting- there are simply too many variables regarding quality of sunlight. The best way to check your solar cell is to use a multimeter to check both its current and voltage output while it's connected to the charging circuit in direct sunlight. I had to move mine to several locations during the course of a day to get the best sunlight.
strunnell says:
Jul 25, 2011. 5:35 PM REPLY Hello. I got all the parts for this project from the links above from sparkfun and i seem to have an issue. My LiPo charger is the newer one that is red with 2 ports one says batterry in and other says sytem out. And not much room for anything else. How do you connect the solar cell to it? and could you tell us some steps to this or put up some pics so we can see how it will all go together with the new version of the LiPo charger? thanks shawna.
Honus says:
Shawna,
The easiest way to connect a solar cell to it is to use an old mini USB cable and splice that to your solar cell as shown on this pagehttp://ladyada.net/make/solarlipo/ Then you just plug your solar cell into the USB port. Now connect the MintyBoost wires to the port marked "SYS OUT" (you can solder them directly or use a JST connector) and the LiPo to the port marked "BATT IN" and you're good to go. You have to solder the LiPo JST battery connector onto the charger board so make sure you get the polarity correct so you don't damage your battery or charger. The Sparkfun charger circuit has a selectable jumper so you can set the charge current to either 100mA or 500mA- it's default setting is 500mA so you don't have to do anything and I'd use the 500mA setting anyway in case you want to use a larger solar panel later on. It does stink that they discontinued the old charger as it was much easier for people to use. If you get stuck or have any other questions just let me know and I'll help out as best as I can.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
strunnell says:
Thanks so much! This helped a ton! Do you have a link to a schematic for this project?
Honus says:
Jul 31, 2011. 5:34 PM REPLY There are links to that info in the FAQ section- the schematics are located on the charging circuit and MintyBoost web pages.
Honus says:
Jul 18, 2011. 9:52 PM REPLY That solar puts out a higher voltage than the charger can handle so you would either have to use a different charging circuit or use a different solar panel or lower the solar panel output voltage using a voltage regulator (which isn't very efficient.)
Honus says:
Here you go- this one can handle the voltage or your solar cell. https://www.adafruit.com/products/280
So what you do is solder a DC power plug onto your solar panel wires and then connect the 6Ah to the battery IN port on the charger. Then connect the battery OUT port on the charger to the MintyBoost circuit and you're good to go. If you change to a solar cell that outputs 6V you can use this new charger, which will give you much better performancehttps://www.adafruit.com/products/390 The way the guy in the article you linked to built his really isn't terribly efficient as he is dropping the voltage down from 15V to 5V using a 7805 voltage regulator- that's a pretty big voltage drop and the excess voltage is removed as heat and his solar cell isn't that great a choice for this application as it's still limited to 100mA output. The solar cell you've chosen is a much better choice- and it's less expensive.
Honus says:
Glad to help- if you have any other questions just let me know!
blinkyblinky says:
Jul 10, 2011. 5:46 PM REPLY Li-Po batteries are very dangerous if overcharged...check out this video: http://kipkay.com/videos/explosions-and-loud-things/worlds-most-dangerousbattery/
Honus says:
They certainly are- that's why it's so important to use the correct type of charger.
rnicholls1 says:
Jun 29, 2011. 9:08 PM REPLY would it be possible to use this Li-poly charging circuit as a replacement to the sparkfun model? I am just wondering if the USB out will work with Iphones and such? http://www.australianrobotics.com.au/products/seeed-lipo-rider-charger thanks in advance
Honus says:
Jun 29, 2011. 10:57 PM REPLY Seeed Studio says it is not designed to handle charging mobile phones and it could overheat- probably because it can only deliver 350mA @5V.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
TheWaddleWaaddle says:
The JST connector wire is sold out, but I think this one would work just as well http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9914
ostomesto says:
Jun 24, 2011. 9:32 PM REPLY Instead of doing all this is there a way where I could lead the solar panel directly to the iPod with little other wiring needed. It seems over complicated to me but i don't know much abut electronics
Honus says:
Jun 25, 2011. 9:03 AM REPLY It is possible but I'm not sure how well it would work. You would need to connect a fairly large solar panel that put out somewhere around 7V+ and then use a 7805 voltage regulator to get a stable 5V output. This then needs to be connected to a USB port with a couple of resistors as Apple devices require interaction over the USB data lines in order for them to recognize a charging device. I'd do a search to see if anyone has made anything like this.
trppen37 says:
Jun 22, 2011. 12:58 AM REPLY Quick question...instead of one 3.7v 2000mAh Lithium Polymer battery can I use three of the batteries in parallel and still use this very same kit?
Honus says:
Yes. Sparkfun even sells a 3.7V 6000mAh LiPo.
jemor143 says:
Jun 20, 2011. 9:05 AM REPLY Could you plug a pair of USB power heated slippers to the MightyMinty boost? (like the ones use here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-USBPowered-Insole-Footwarmers/#step1 ). I'm a little worry about the current limit of the Minty boost (400ma?). I'm a newbie at this; any thought or advices would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Honus says:
Jun 20, 2011. 11:18 AM REPLY If those insole warmers are designed to be powered over USB then yes it should work as the USB standard is 5V @500mA. Having said that there are some USB devices that can exceed that so the only way to know for sure is to try it out and see what happens. Jun 13, 2011. 4:43 PM REPLY
ericb1 says:
this is such a great project, I really appreciate everyone's comments, and I assure you I have been reading all of them.
I take my son camping at the beach every summer for 4 days, and so I am trying to build one of these that will keep my blackberry charged for 4 days while I am without electricity. What I am trying to figure out the best way and which components to pair together. I DO NOT care if it fits in an altoids tin, I am planning on putting it in a clear pelican case of some kind. I am a novice when it comes to this, but capable of building it. I just don't know whether to have a larger capacity battery that will give me 3 or 4 charges, but takes longer to charge, or a smaller battery that can be re-charged faster (I usually need to charge my phone once a day) so do I try to charge something smaller fully, etc? And do I use 1 big solar panel, or 2 or 30 smaller ones wired in parallel, etc. Anyone who has used this concept, but built a bigger capacity version, I would really appreciate some assistance, thanks!
abajaj says:
hey kan u g!v me d proper descr!ption ab8 !t.....! m very much !Ntrstd 2 noe abt !t.....!!
Honus says:
Sorry but I have no idea what you are saying...
TheWaddleWaaddle says:
Jun 11, 2011. 9:09 AM REPLY I believe what he is trying to say is "hey can you give me the proper description about it? I'm very interested to know about it!". I don't know what "it" is though., -TheWaddleWaaddle
ericb1 says:
May 19, 2011. 2:44 PM REPLY This project looks great, and I'm considering doing it, but some of the parts seem to be outdated and not sold anymore. Is there an updated list of parts that can be used, or an alternative list of "cheaper" parts? Seems like the whole thing is running in the $60 range depending on the case? any assistance is greatly appreciated, thanks!
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
Honus says:
May 19, 2011. 7:57 PM REPLY OK- fixed the link for the new LiPo charger that Sparkfun makes. I think everything else still checks out. For cheaper parts have a look at the FAQ section. The absolute least expensive way to make it is design and etch your own circuit board and build it using surface mount components- but it's a lot of work!
nachozombie says:
how long does the whole charging process even take? i thought solar powered stuff need more solar energy to work...
Honus says:
Take a look in the FAQ section- all the charging time info is there.
rhone3000 says:
Nice job you did, I had to try it too. I see you use the Mintyboost v2.0 kit, is it okay to use Mintyboost v3.0 kit?
I don't know if someone has asked this question is it bad to charge the battery while I am charging my IPod Touch. What would you advise?
Honus says:
Apr 14, 2011. 7:03 PM REPLY You can use the v3.0 kit no problem. It's not necessarily bad to charge the battery while charging your iPod- it's not going to damage the battery.
rhone3000 says:
If my battery ever reached 2.6 Volts is that bad?
Honus says:
Apr 15, 2011. 7:14 AM REPLY It really should never drop below 2.8 V otherwise it can be damaged. The LiPo cells I listed from Sparkfun have their own built in protection so they shouldn't drop below 2.8 V.
rhone3000 says:
Apr 16, 2011. 8:25 AM REPLY I left it in the sun all day yesterday from 7am-9pm (This is in Florida so you know the the sun is shining), and I charging my Ipod nano 3nd generation and let's say it lasted about two hours till it could not charge no more. Do you know what could be the problem?
Honus says:
Apr 16, 2011. 3:34 PM REPLY So it took two hours to charge your iPod? Was this while the LiPo was charging or not? I don't quite understand exactly what you are asking.
rhone3000 says:
Apr 16, 2011. 4:49 PM REPLY The LiPo should have been full charged because it was in the sun since 7am-9pm but it only lasted about two hours til the battery died. Is that normal?
Honus says:
Apr 16, 2011. 5:40 PM REPLY OK- so did the light on the charging circuit turn off after it sat in the sun all day? I still don't understand what you mean by it lasting two hours- you'll have to be more specific. Was it able to fully charge your iPod? Are you trying to use your iPod while the the solar charger is plugged in? Or did you simply just try to charge your iPod? You should disconnect the solar charger as soon as your iPod is charged- otherwise your iPod will think it is connected to an outlet and will stay on at full power, draining the battery. You might have a look at he MIntyBoost FAQ page herehttp://www.ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/faq.html
rhone3000 says:
Apr 16, 2011. 8:26 PM REPLY I left the solar charger for a whole day in the sun and when it got dark outside I took it inside, so I can try to charge my iPod. and it was unable to fully charge my ipod, I was not using my iPod while the the solar charger is plugged in. The solar charger basically only charge for two hours then the solar charger stopped charging
Honus says:
Apr 16, 2011. 8:55 PM REPLY How far did it charge your iPod? The Nano has a pretty small battery (especially compared to an iPhone/iPod Touch) so it should have easily charged it in under 2 hrs. Do you know for sure that the LiPo was fully charged? Did the solar charger LED on the charging circuit turn off after leaving it in the sun all day? The only thing I can think of is that the LiPo was not fully charged- possibly due to having a bad battery as the voltage never should have dropped to 2.6 V in the first place. Solar panels also only work when they are in direct sunlight- any shade at all will seriously reduce their output so even if is left outside all day in one spot it may not have received maximum sunlight. Those are the only things I can think of right now... The first thing we should do troubleshooting this is make sure it's not the LiPo. What I would do is leave it outside again for another day, making sure the LED on the charging circuit turns off to indicate it is fully charged. Then measure the voltage at the LiPo battery- it should measure around 4.2 Volts when it's at full capacity. Do that and let me know the results and
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/
rhone3000 says:
Sorry for respond late...
It charged my nano from 0% - 75%, I think before I charge it the solar charger battery was probably 3.2V - 3.4V. Yesturday, I putted the solar charger out the other at 7am before the sun came up and it was bout 3.4V and I forgot about it a little bit so picked up when it got it was dark outside (at 10pm) and it reads about 3.5V - 3.6V... Today, before I set the solar charger outside before the sun comes out I measure 3.66V. I took out the solar charger out from the sun at 6pm and I measured it at 10 pm and it measured 3.9 V I never really look at the LED if it turn off or not. I'm going to try it again tomorrow and see what happens
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-solar-iPodiPhone-charger-aka-Might/