My parents live in Connecticut, where power goes out at least once a year. This year they went without power for almost a week (due to Sandy). I think it would be a great Christmas present to make them a solar powered cellphone charger. I could just buy one, but that's boring and not nearly as personal as building them one.
I want to build two chargers. Each parent uses iPhones, and my dad has a work blackberry. I've looked at a couple tutorials (example), and get the gist of it, but have some questions. I plan on using these elements (ignore the multimeter, I don't have one at home) for my circuit. I plan on ordering one extra of each (except solar cells), in case I fry something.
iPhone wall chargers have 5V, 1A output. Blackberry wall chargers have 5V, 0.75A output. Typical computer USB ports have 5V, 0.5A output.
* Here is the solar panel I plan to use. I want to hook up six in parallel to theoretically output 540mA at 4.5V. Will this work on both phones? I am fine with slower charging. I don't know if the slightly lower voltage will work with the phone. There are other solar panels. As long as the panel output is within a certain range, I guess it comes down to which website is reliable, but what would the range be?
* I don't fully understand how to hook up the diode. Will this circuit protect the solar cells? I read you need to do this in a tutorial. Why would the smartphone create a reverse current?
* I want the red LED for kicks, how much will it harm performance and how can I minimize this? Hook it up in parallel with the other diode, or just lose the LED?
* In steady sunlight, do solar cells' output fluctuate much and could this harm a phone?
* Apple is kinda pesky in their charging system, and require 2V on the data ports of the USB for the iPhone to let in electrons. I would then need to add this to the circuit. Would this mod make the charger not work with a non-iPhone?
I want to build two chargers. Each parent uses iPhones, and my dad has a work blackberry. I've looked at a couple tutorials (example), and get the gist of it, but have some questions. I plan on using these elements (ignore the multimeter, I don't have one at home) for my circuit. I plan on ordering one extra of each (except solar cells), in case I fry something.
iPhone wall chargers have 5V, 1A output. Blackberry wall chargers have 5V, 0.75A output. Typical computer USB ports have 5V, 0.5A output.
* Here is the solar panel I plan to use. I want to hook up six in parallel to theoretically output 540mA at 4.5V. Will this work on both phones? I am fine with slower charging. I don't know if the slightly lower voltage will work with the phone. There are other solar panels. As long as the panel output is within a certain range, I guess it comes down to which website is reliable, but what would the range be?
* I don't fully understand how to hook up the diode. Will this circuit protect the solar cells? I read you need to do this in a tutorial. Why would the smartphone create a reverse current?
* I want the red LED for kicks, how much will it harm performance and how can I minimize this? Hook it up in parallel with the other diode, or just lose the LED?
* In steady sunlight, do solar cells' output fluctuate much and could this harm a phone?
* Apple is kinda pesky in their charging system, and require 2V on the data ports of the USB for the iPhone to let in electrons. I would then need to add this to the circuit. Would this mod make the charger not work with a non-iPhone?