Hello all,
Newbie to the forum here. I've got an associates in EET that I haven't had a real use for in the past 14 years or so (ended up with a standard, mondane, boring old factory job). I've forgotten all of what I learned more or less. I still like to piddle with stuff once in a while when time permits though.

But to my question - Is there a way to increase current without increasing voltage? I have some small outdoor lights that I want to switch from battery power to solar power. I need the equivilant voltage and current of 2 AA batteries (that's what the lights currently run off of). I have a small solar panel that puts out 3.5 volts but doesn't run the lights. I did a search on this site but didn't really find what I was looking for - or maybe I just didn't search for the right words. Maybe it's something else or solar panels work differently or I'm just missing something? Maybe something else has to go with the solar panel for it to work? Maybe I'm just an idiot? hahaha.

Anyway, thanks for any help you can give. Later.

 

You need more of those solor panels in parallel. This will maintain the 3.5-VDC you need but will increase the current production capability. Whatever your panel configuration is, 3.5 volts @ X amount of current. Duplicate that configuration and connect the two configurations in parallel and you'll get twice the current. Parallel meaning the two negatives tied together and the two positives tied together, then the load connected to that. If you can determine the current requirement for the entire lighting scheme, you can select the solor cells to give the most cost effective output. Each cell being rated at X-volts @ X-milliamps.