User:Jaffa225
I participated in G1G1 and am now happily hacking my XO. Thanks to JoshSeal, who sent me some of his power-plug samples, I am now trying to come up with useful renewable sources of power. So far, I've sent away for two non-amorphous 10W solar panels, and am happy to say they've arrived and are everything I'd hoped for! The site I bought them from, seemed a bit of a gamble, as the page was fraught with discrepancies. So now I have what appear to be two Suntech STP010-12/Kb 10 Watt polycrystalline panels. In case anyone would like to know where I got them, it was http://rvprotectionproducts.com/index.php?p=product&id=1611&parent=0.
If you check it out, be aware that the page should be taken with a grain of salt. They are 10W panels, at least in my case, and not 30W as the overview states. Also, it references the STA010-12 in one place, which appears to be a more recent model, but as said, I was sent STP010-12/Kb panels. Anyway, I think I was lucky and got exactly what I wanted. Also, everyone should be aware that I am adapting these panels to the XO myself, with the power-plugs samples that Josh was so nice to send me. Thanks again, Josh!
Here's an update for anyone who's interested. I needed to do more than adapt the output wires from the panels to the XO DC-plug. It turns out the the panel's output is sub-optimal for the XO. Their voltage is generally too high, especially when the amperage is at their peak, but I'm thankfully able to take advice from my genius brother, who's going to school for electrical engineering. He suggested I buy some (about 5) 5W, 13V zener diodes to regulate the voltage. I was only able to purchase one locally, so far, but the rest are on order so I should be able to get the results soon. I did do some preliminary testing out of curiosity with the one diode (by making sure the panels were putting out a voltage greater than 13V and a very tiny amperage) and got favorable results. I just hope that the idea of splitting the ~22W (short circuit power) among a few diodes works without blowing any out, due to actual diode rating differences within their tolerance. We'll see.
- --04:16, 17 October 2008 (UTC)