Greetings,
I came across a boat load of those solar powered dancing flowers and a huge dose of boredom. I would like to take them apart and turn them into other things. I am looking for help on a few things so I couldn't post this in just one topic.
First would be advice on what not to damage in taking them apart. I have a full range of cutting tools or I could slowly just pull them apart, I have no clue how fragile a dollar store solar strip is going to be. Then I would need advice on measuring the output of just one unit, they barely wiggle under lamp light but move pretty decently in a sunny window.
After knowing what I've got I'd need advice on how make a steady use of the power, I'm imagining sending the power from the mini panels to some form of rechargeable battery, then from the battery to what ever is going to make use of the power. I know I need something between the panels and the devices being powered for stability. So far my only ideas for the use of energy is to power LED's, possibly a phone charger and eventually small dc motors that I will pull out of other toys.
I'm not looking to invent something new or avoiding something I could simply buy, like said solar phone charger, I'm just looking to cure some boredom with a pile of stuff I already have laying around. I have taken Electrical Theory but it was mostly for residential wiring pre solar boom. A lot of my questions could probably answered just by links to other threads or articles.
I came across a boat load of those solar powered dancing flowers and a huge dose of boredom. I would like to take them apart and turn them into other things. I am looking for help on a few things so I couldn't post this in just one topic.
First would be advice on what not to damage in taking them apart. I have a full range of cutting tools or I could slowly just pull them apart, I have no clue how fragile a dollar store solar strip is going to be. Then I would need advice on measuring the output of just one unit, they barely wiggle under lamp light but move pretty decently in a sunny window.
After knowing what I've got I'd need advice on how make a steady use of the power, I'm imagining sending the power from the mini panels to some form of rechargeable battery, then from the battery to what ever is going to make use of the power. I know I need something between the panels and the devices being powered for stability. So far my only ideas for the use of energy is to power LED's, possibly a phone charger and eventually small dc motors that I will pull out of other toys.
I'm not looking to invent something new or avoiding something I could simply buy, like said solar phone charger, I'm just looking to cure some boredom with a pile of stuff I already have laying around. I have taken Electrical Theory but it was mostly for residential wiring pre solar boom. A lot of my questions could probably answered just by links to other threads or articles.