A Six-Pack of "Light" Beer

The title says six-pack yet its for only one bottle lantern.
For a 6 pack it would be more like $150. Way to much for me I'll stick to my cheap-o walmart special solar lights.

nice concept but more money than sense; i'll just stick with the 9-volt LED lantern

nice enough

Im sorry, I can appreciate the recycling aspect of this project, but why would I spend twice as much money and 10 times the effort of just going and buying the damned thing already packaged at the home depot?...No offense, it's still cool!

I think this is cool.

Hobby circuitry isn't about saving money

It might be more cost effective to buy a walmart lantern and put the guts in a beer bottle.

You guys are so lame. The lantern you make like this is way cooler than anything you can buy, and you can customize it in endless ways if you learn even a tiny bit of electronics. Plus the cheepo walmart solar lights (all the solar lights) are incredibly lame, just like you guys. With this, if the light doesn't last long enough experiment! Larger or more efficient solar panel, maybe a battery with higher ampere-hours rating, or maybe search for more efficient leds with more lumens/watt. You can go with different colors, some can blink, you can make marquees, the possibilities go on and on. Have fun with it!!!

Patrick

Have fun with it he says and spend even more money.
I like the idea of gutting the cheap solar lights already made up and putting it into the bottle.

Dave,

Check the parts list to the step up circuit. I don't see where the 1N5817 diode is located. Let me know.

I'll let you all know if I get it to work.

Dave,

Check the parts list to the step up circuit. I don't see where the 1N5817 diode is located. Let me know.

I'll let you all know if I get it to work.

A little shopping around one can make this project cheaper try looking for LEDs on ebay the battery it's two AA Nicads you may already have some on hand in an old cordless phone.
The LEDs I'd just get a bunch of cheapo 18,000mcd white LEDs from a supplier from HK or Taiwan off ebay the ones you can buy in lots of 50 for $10.

hey confused: I believe the Led cathode is hooked to the negative terminals of both the battery pack and the solar pack. the anode is indicated on the schematic.

Could anyone provide more extensive directions for this beginner? Still need to learn the ABC's of reading schematics. For this project, even pictures would be great if possible.

Anyone?

Thank you.

question, can u get cheaper by using an old calculators' solar cell? and if so which ones?

I tried to make this and it's not working. If anyone did it successfuly how did you do it? What was missing from the instructions? Pics would have helped the instructions.

I might not know my way around an electical schematic as well as you all,but at least I'm trying. I have enlisted the help of my neighbor who is an electrical engineer and recently retire from Delphi. As soon as I get it done and working I'll be glad to help anyone who is having problems.

You can learn about the 1N5817 diode in this PowerFilm datasheet:

"Introduction to PowerFilm"

@www.iowathinfilm.com

Look for "PowerFilm Instructions" pg 1.

Dave Prochnow

I looked all over the iowathinfilm.com site and cannot find any data sheet "Introduction to Powerfilm". I still don't know where the diode is supposed to go. Why isn't it shown on the schematic like all the other components? Frustrating.

From the iowathinfilm.com home page click on the OEM components under the portable and remote heading on the left. Then click the link for the instructions page.
Really, this thing should work OK without the diode. It's purpose is to keep the solar panel from draining the charged battery when it is dark. It's a symmetric kind of thing, put light into the solar panel, juice comes out; dark on the panel, juice gets sucked up... but slower than charging.
The annode of the diode should go to the plus side of the solar panel.

It is difficult to me. where can I buy these parts in korea?

Can anyone recommend another LED or battery that would work for more than a half hour? thanks.

Hey Kase9, and everybody else that tried to do it this is what you do. First the solar panel the side that has the bars on it (not the shiny side) is the the correct side. Secondly on the solar film you will see something that looks like this "I- I- I-" the direction of the dashes is the negitive and the bar is the positive. Connect the negative side of the solar film to ground. Next all the sides that go to ground connect them all together and run them to the negative side of the battery. Since ground current wants zero whats less than zero the negative side of the battery. It's not a bad idea to have 2 regular batteries and some extra wire around. If you connect the batteries -+-+ and connect both ends to the L.E.D. poles (anode and cathode) you will quickly find out which is which. This way you can find out the polarity on the LED otherwise it won't light if it is connected wrong. I used this same tool to connect the positive and negative side to the batteries this should allow you to charge the batteries temporary so you can test the circuit. One last point the diode should be connected to the positive side of the solar film, but with the negative side attached to film and the positive side attached to the wire. This prevents negative current to flow the opposite direction draining the battery. I will post pictures soon, I really hope this helps because the directions were about as clear as a really really foggy day.

Lets drink it :)

Extractor 1.4
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www.emailextractor14.com/
www.emailextractor14.com/?page_id=121

Is the intersection between the wire coming out of pin #3 on the controller and the wire to the inductor a soldered connection? It's not clear on the schematic. Does anyone have photos/drawings of a completed project? Thanks.

Haha, that's pretty freaking cool. Maybe you could even use a solar cell to help power that guy! Great idea, and ingenuity!

- Brett Adams
www.efficientsolarpanels.com/