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Posted: 7/4/2023 3:53:26 PM EST
So I'm trying to wire up a few solar cells to power a small 5v fan to throw in a hat for work. Figured it would be straightforward but guess I'm not doing something right.
Should these 4 power the fan? I get nothing at all and I cannot for the life of me find the multimeter I bought. It's gotta be in one of the boxes I haven't unpacked yet. Moving sucks   The cells are supposed to be 5v 45mA .2W |
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Posted: 7/4/2023 4:14:00 PM EST
[#1]
The way it's wired, if each cell can produce 5v, it would output 20v, but you have two positives.
To make 5v, they all need all their reds tied to a common, and the blacks tied to another. I'll subscribe and check back in later |
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Posted: 7/4/2023 4:33:46 PM EST
[Last Edit: -Obsessed-]
[#2]
Something tells me you're going to need more than 150mA to power that fan.
Your cells aren't producing near enough current. You would wire all positive wires together, and all negative wires together. Aka in parallel, to maximize current. ETA just looked...most fans that size need 0.3A or better. You're going to need to double your solar cells. At least. That assumes they run near max efficiency and stated current which literally never happens. |
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Posted: 7/4/2023 5:35:08 PM EST
[#3]
Test each panel with a meter before investing time on assembly.
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Posted: 7/6/2023 1:30:40 PM EST
[#4]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By AeroE: Test each panel with a meter before investing time on assembly. Yea that's what I'm going to have to do. We'll see how far this little project goes. I have 10 of the cells. Might just test em all, and just wire em all up and then see if that's enough for the fan. |
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Posted: 7/6/2023 1:32:50 PM EST
[#5]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By high_order1: The way it's wired, if each cell can produce 5v, it would output 20v, but you have two positives. To make 5v, they all need all their reds tied to a common, and the blacks tied to another. I'll subscribe and check back in later @high_order1 Don't pay attention to the colors of the wires, I just used some 22g wire I had. They are wired in series correctly, but looks like I need to set it up in parallel. |
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Posted: 7/6/2023 2:09:10 PM EST
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cccpNyC: @high_order1 Don't pay attention to the colors of the wires, I just used some 22g wire I had. They are wired in series correctly, but looks like I need to set it up in parallel. When you line them up, the voltage stays the same, but the current increases. That fan might run on 20v, or it might have burned up. Either way, it's gonna be a neat hat. Stick with it! |
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