Hello, new forum poster seeking guidance for project.
As cell phones boom across Africa, the people in outlying areas tend to get left behind. I'd like to end up with a project not unlike bootstrapsolar.com which has an open-source project to be able to charge your cell phone. I like the idea of using cheaper 6vDC panels to feed a battery. Having bought many cheap solar power banks I find that none were really able to fully charge a cell phone. More wattage seemed to work. Ultimately, it would be a pipe dream to seed a community leader with a panel and a charger circuit to feed into a battery they can acquire cheaply rather than dump a device and leave town. That is to say, it's better for a recipient to be involved in the project so that they're not helpless when we leave town. And leave a "plan" for a circuit so that an inquisitive community member could conceivably build their own and perhaps build a side business charging others' phones.
So I bought a 6vDC solar panel at 3w and some 2500ah NiCd D batteries to bring it up to 6v in line with a 7808 regulator. Mainly to be able to store enough energy so that more than one phone could be charged at night. Also I was wanting to use a storage medium that is easier to acquire in the countryside rather than providing an Lithium battery that they are less likely to acquire inside their country. Reading up elsewhere and here I'm thinking that NiCd is not the way to go. It appears no matter what my source and storage option is there's more to it than dumping juice into batteries. I'm told that NiCd and car/motorcycle batteries are reasonably available there.
Searching this forum I found this, but the comments after this post confused me as they downplayed the circuit for reasons that weren't clear to me.
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=56158
Perhaps I need to reconsider using a 6v panel and power storage. Given that I'd like to build an inexpensive means for people to build their own grassroots businesses so they can build their own economy, how would you suggest I approach this project? thanx, sam
As cell phones boom across Africa, the people in outlying areas tend to get left behind. I'd like to end up with a project not unlike bootstrapsolar.com which has an open-source project to be able to charge your cell phone. I like the idea of using cheaper 6vDC panels to feed a battery. Having bought many cheap solar power banks I find that none were really able to fully charge a cell phone. More wattage seemed to work. Ultimately, it would be a pipe dream to seed a community leader with a panel and a charger circuit to feed into a battery they can acquire cheaply rather than dump a device and leave town. That is to say, it's better for a recipient to be involved in the project so that they're not helpless when we leave town. And leave a "plan" for a circuit so that an inquisitive community member could conceivably build their own and perhaps build a side business charging others' phones.
So I bought a 6vDC solar panel at 3w and some 2500ah NiCd D batteries to bring it up to 6v in line with a 7808 regulator. Mainly to be able to store enough energy so that more than one phone could be charged at night. Also I was wanting to use a storage medium that is easier to acquire in the countryside rather than providing an Lithium battery that they are less likely to acquire inside their country. Reading up elsewhere and here I'm thinking that NiCd is not the way to go. It appears no matter what my source and storage option is there's more to it than dumping juice into batteries. I'm told that NiCd and car/motorcycle batteries are reasonably available there.
Searching this forum I found this, but the comments after this post confused me as they downplayed the circuit for reasons that weren't clear to me.
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=56158
Perhaps I need to reconsider using a 6v panel and power storage. Given that I'd like to build an inexpensive means for people to build their own grassroots businesses so they can build their own economy, how would you suggest I approach this project? thanx, sam