LED that works like a solar battery. DIY solar battery made from transistors: step-by-step instructions, assembly video. What kind of device is this

In general, from the diode solar panel I wanted to get a nominal voltage of 9 volts in normal sunlight, a voltage of at least 6 volts in cloudy weather, and in bright sunlight I planned to get up to 14-16 volts of voltage; we’ll talk about the current strength later. So, since my crystals produced a peak voltage value of 0.7 volts very rarely (during 3 days of testing in the sun, the multimeter only showed such a value once from one crystal), I decided to use the calculated current value of one crystal for the convenience of calculations 0.5 volts. To obtain 12 volts of voltage, you need to connect 24 semiconductor diode crystals in series. Now I’ll explain how to remove the crystal from the diode. We take the diode itself and use a hammer to break the glass holder of the upper contact of the diode. Then, using pliers, you need to open the diode. There we will see a crystal that is soldered to the base of the diode. A copper stranded wire is soldered to the crystal, at the end of which the upper contact of the diode is attached. We take the lower base of the diode on which the crystal is soldered and go to the gas stove. We hold it on the fire with pliers (so that the semiconductor crystal is on top). After half a minute, the tin of the crystal will melt and you can safely pick it up with tweezers. This should be done with all diodes. It took me a couple of days. The work is really hard, but it's worth it. As already mentioned, each semiconductor crystal is capable of delivering up to 7 milliamps of current in bright sunlight. For ease of calculation, I used the current value of one crystal of 5 milliamps. That is, if we connect 32 crystals in parallel, we get a current of 160 milliamps, why exactly 160 milliamps? It’s just that I only had enough diodes to produce such a current. You need to connect 24 diodes in series to obtain 12 volts of voltage and assemble 32 blocks of 12 volts and connect them in parallel to obtain the desired capacity. As a result, when the panel was ready (after almost a week of work), for some reason I received different parameters that made me very happy. The maximum voltage in bright sunlight was up to 18 volts, and the current reached 200 milliamps, sometimes up to 220 milliamps.

For the panel body, two frames from a Soviet voltage stabilizer were used. The stabilizer has holes for ventilation and it is in them that the semiconductor crystals were placed.

Since sunlight will not always illuminate our panel, it was decided to reserve the voltage from the panel in batteries. The batteries were used from Chinese lanterns. Each battery has the following parameters: voltage 4 volts, capacity up to 1500 milliamps.

That is, our panel will have time to charge such a battery in a day, or rather three such batteries, since the batteries were connected in series to receive 12 volts of voltage, then I remade the panel and it could also supply 8 volts 300 milliamps if desired. A small panel of glass diodes was also made. In bright sunlight, the glass diode delivered a voltage of up to 0.3 volts and a current of up to 0.2 milliamps.

My glass diode panel gives a voltage of 4 volts, a current of up to 80 milliamps. All the voltage from the solar panels was accumulated in lead batteries from the flashlights, but it is advisable to use a battery with a large capacity, even from a car. All the voltage from the batteries was spent for one purpose - to illuminate the house at night. Lighting was provided by LEDs.

For this purpose, flashlights were purchased from the store. Then LED panels were created.

Each panel has 42 LEDs. A total of three identical panels were created that together consumed only 20 watts. But the illumination is equal to a 100-watt incandescent lamp and even more.

The light provided by LEDs is more pleasant and calming. In addition, LEDs have negligible heat losses.

Well, other than that, I think everyone knows perfectly well what is more effective. All LEDs were connected in parallel and powered by 4 volts, but the voltage must be applied through a 10 ohm current-limiting resistor - the resistor power is 1 watt, and no heating of the resistor was observed. Aka.

Discuss the article POWERFUL HOMEMADE SOLAR BATTERY

This great idea. Everyone has seen calculators that are powered by a solar battery; moreover, a lantern designed on the same principle is popular in gardening stores. Charges during the day, lights up at night.

Enthusiasts have long known that an LED placed in the sun produces a completely measurable voltage and even some current. In other words, an LED can simultaneously work as a photodiode (or photocell). The beauty is that the LED has a kind of plastic lens in the form of a body. This lens helps concentrate light onto a tiny piece of semiconductor, which is much smaller than the surface of known solar cells. Theoretically, if we connect n LEDs in one chain, we will get a completely working solar battery.

Experiment

An experiment is good when its results can be applied in an applied way. For example, take and power a light bulb from such a battery, which will work in some dark room in a garden house. It’s light outside, and it’s also light in the basement. Grace! But before we start the experiment, ask yourself, have you heard of such batteries working? Not in theory, but in practice. We also haven’t heard or seen working samples, but that won’t stop us.

For practical experience, several samples of LEDs were measured and those that gave the maximum voltage in bright sunlight were selected. One LED can produce 1.5 volts, which means that if we solder a certain number of semiconductors in series, we will obtain the required potential, and if the experiment is carried out in parallel mode, then, in theory, with the number of LEDs close to infinity, we will be able to obtain a current of exorbitant power. Like in lightning. Or something like that.

Two lines of ten LEDs each were created, in parallel and serial mode, respectively. We were hoping to see huge numbers on the voltmeter, but in practice nothing like that happened. Neither parallel nor serial mode worked. A classic failed experiment confirmed the following - we have not heard of a working LED solar panel and have not held one in our hands, because it is impossible. Let's move on to the debriefing.

Conclusions

One LED actually produces 1.5 volts in sunlight. The problem is that the current is very small. In addition, the LED generates energy only in bright sunlight. Under normal room lighting conditions, nothing like this happens. That is, we can conclude that the losses in a chain of n LEDs will be very large. An LED is not a specialized device for generating light - if you apply voltage to the LED, it starts to glow. It turns out that while some LEDs produced electricity, others immediately “assimilated” it to glow.

But the current strength is so low that the glow did not occur, along with a simultaneous drop in the overall potential of the system. It is impossible to establish at this stage which of the LEDs was a donor and which was an “acceptor”. The experiment will be more accurate if the number of LEDs is increased to at least a thousand. But there is one “but”! This loses all practical and economic meaning.

If you are faced with a problem that is insoluble at this stage, make a solar battery with my own hands, then simple method There will be a purchase of specialized solar cells. Unlike LEDs, they work in any light, even when there are clouds in the sky. Naturally, in this case their efficiency decreases, but they work.

A battery assembled from such elements and installed on the roof of a house can supply even the smallest garden house with electricity in winter (and not just summer) conditions. Enough for a TV, a computer and basic equipment. Problems begin when an iron or kettle is connected, but then a second battery is installed on the second half of the roof and life gets better.

The elements have a modular design and can be expanded almost endlessly. Where can all this happiness be bought? On the Ebay.com website - you have no idea, but it turns out that solar energy is very developed in the world and many inexpensive kits are sold (up to $100) for creating home solar panels of decent power.

Over time, people who are passionate about radio accumulate quite a lot of different electronic parts, among which may be old Soviet transistors in a metal case. They are no longer relevant as radio components due to their large dimensions, but they can be used for a completely different purpose: as a solar battery. True, the power of such a battery is quite small in relation to its size, and is only suitable for powering low-power devices. But you can still collect it as an experiment and for fun.

To convert a transistor into a solar battery, you first need to cut off the cover from it. To do this, carefully clamp the transistor in a yew by the rim on the body and cut off the cover with a hacksaw. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the crystal and thin wires inside the transistor.

• Device Description
• Manufacturing Features
• Build process
• Battery glow
• Conclusion

With the development of technology modern society strives to use environmentally friendly methods of generating electricity. This makes it possible to save natural resources and also protect the planet from global warming. In addition, using solar energy is a great way to save money. Although solar cell technology is not new, the equipment remains expensive. Therefore, radio amateurs prefer to make such batteries with their own hands.

Device Description

A device for obtaining energy from the sun is a photographic plate that changes its conductivity when exposed to sunlight. This releases electricity. The main elements of the device are LEDs, which are needed to make solar panel. However, the amount of electricity generated by one LED is small, so for powerful battery a fairly large number of elements will be required.

Manufacturing Features

LEDs are used to make a homemade solar battery. An LED differs from a conventional diode in the presence of a special housing, which acts as a lens. Thanks to the lens, the sun's rays are focused on a conducting crystal. It is the lens that helps increase the generated voltage.

The power of a homemade battery also depends on what color LEDs are used:

1. Green gives a voltage of 1.5 V.
2. The red-transparent indicator is 1.3 V.
3. With an infrared element, the voltage is 0.9 V.

The elements are installed on a textolite substrate. If this is not available, thick cardboard can be used. When assembling a panel of hundreds of LEDs, a current of approximately 0.45 mA is provided. This is a low figure, so you should not count on a high-power device.

Build process

The first step in making a homemade battery is to remove the elements from the case. Any available tools from a chisel to a hammer can help with this work. However, it is necessary to remove the case so that the crystals are not damaged. If this happens, this LED should not be used in batteries. Many craftsmen advise not to remove the housing from the LED at all.

A sheet of thick cardboard can be used as the battery base. It is necessary to make holes in it according to the diagram. Do not forget the elementary laws of physics: when connecting elements in parallel, the current strength is summed up, and when connected in series, the voltage is added up. Therefore, it is recommended to use both connection schemes simultaneously.

LEDs must be inserted into the finished holes according to a pre-selected pattern. At this point, the main stages of assembling the battery with your own hands are completed. All that remains is to check its performance using a special device. Don't expect high scores. A homemade panel often produces readings in excess of 0.3 mA. In addition, a homemade battery will take up large area due to the placement of elements.

Battery glow

When creating a solar battery with your own hands, LEDs are used, so it will glow. However, it is impossible to turn off the glow and leave only the transformation effect electric current from solar energy. Therefore, due to spontaneous glow, part of the generated electricity will be consumed to glow the elements.

The disadvantages of the design include the fact that it is impossible to get rid of the glow effect. In addition, the structure will generate electricity only when exposed to direct sunlight. Even during the day with a clear sky but little cloudiness, the output voltage will be zero.

Conclusion

When using LEDs, a homemade solar battery will not have high power. After all, even if you follow all the rules for do-it-yourself assembly, use high-quality materials and a large number of elements, the device will turn out to be ineffective and low-power. Such a device can only be used to power a small device.

However, creating such devices with your own hands will bring maximum satisfaction to electrical engineers and radio amateurs. But if you want a solar battery more high performance, it is recommended to purchase it in the store.

Presents a selection from the forum - a discussion of the idea of ​​a solar battery using LEDs. The idea seems to be on the surface, but no one has yet fully implemented it.

Unlike silicon wafers, which cannot be melted out of sand at home, there are countless LEDs soldered onto all sorts of old boards, which are now usually simply thrown away. In addition, LEDs have a “natural” light concentrator - the same housing that scatters light when the LED operates in natural mode!

If you make a working copy, write to us, EnergyFuture.RU will publish your story and give you a T-shirt with its logo!

Alex_Soroka

two LEDs of transparent fill pulled me but yellow insert the Chinese into the tester and expose it to the sun

...received 1.5 Volts! Moreover, the orientation is not exactly to the sun - and if it is accurate, then even higher. Current – ​​5.6mA!!! (two LEDs in parallel)

Currents: from a table lamp (luminescent) at 9W power - received 0.8V, current - 3.5mA

A question immediately arose: maybe it makes sense to build solar panels using LEDs. battery?

LEDs have a lens - so they collect light into a beam onto the semiconductor crystal itself, i.e. They amplify the light, which means you need less crystal than classic solar batts - which are terribly expensive... LEDs can be very simple - we don’t need super-bright ones...

Yes, and they showed it on Discovery recently - people put a lens and a tiny plate of a solar cell - so the lens almost burns it out...

We need to look - maybe there are “junk” small LEDs - not super-bright ones, but just any with a transparent body? ...and assemble a 10x10cm board for them that will be like a battery - but you need to calculate how to connect it - in order to get 9-12V and a noticeable current...

I used standard LEDs - not 3mm diameter. a 5mm. yellow glow but with a transparent acrylic fill (just about the peak of the Sun's luminosity range). So it turns out that a “spot” of 5mm diameter is concentrated by the LED lens to a point of approximately 0.5mm2 (crystal)

Look on the Internet and Wikipedia for the “spectrum of the Sun” - and use it to look for the LEDs closest to the maximum.

Drovalex

Well, what's the question? Of course you can use it. But it seems to me that with the same power, a diode battery will cost the same as a regular solar battery. But if it costs more per kiloV.m than a conventional solar battery, then this is the goal - the ratio of costs per kiloV.m.

PV module MSW12-12________Price: 2,750 rub.

Peak power: 12W ±5% Rated voltage: 12V

Voltage at maximum power point: 17 V Current at maximum power point: 0.7 A

Dimensions: 270*480*17mm Weight: 0.9 kg

About 1400 LEDs with your measurements will be needed to develop power similar to this battery. Yes, if you buy diodes in China, then such a battery of diodes will be two times cheaper than PV. So good luck capturing the sunlight.

Michenbay

You write...received 1.5 Volts! Moreover, the orientation is not exactly to the sun - but if it is exactly

That and above. Current – ​​5.6mA!!! (two LEDs in parallel)

I think 400 LEDs will produce 1.12 amperes and 1.5 volts!!! to get 12 volts at the same current you need to solder an assembly of 3200 LEDs. I didn’t estimate the dimensions or weight. price (let’s say an LED costs 50 kopecks in a super wholesale office at an LED factory) we get 1600 rupees for a 12 volt battery and 13.44 watts. Not bad!!!

Overrider

I checked the red 5R3SCB-2/W LEDs, 18 in series (this is my rear marker) about a volt when brought almost close to an energy-saving lamp. 5Y3SCС-2/W yellow in the same configuration (turn signals), even less, something around 0.3-0.4v. I didn’t measure the current, because what’s the point?

If you are planning to make a solar battery, you should not take such LEDs

I dabbled with such solar batteries in 2000, since at work I have access to super-bright LEDs (I install electronic watch on LEDs). I can say that back then I used red super-bright LEDs, a voltage of 1.63 V was taken from one diode, but the current was small 10-15 µA, I used a photo battery to power the LCD clock, a photo battery of two LEDs is on my autonomous water silvering device (so that it would work without batteries, especially since LEDs and silver electrodes will last for 20 - 30 years). I set up a simple experiment - I connected a super-bright LED to a battery of 6 LEDs, which glowed noticeably. For a bet, I made a capacitive storage device on a similar device (set the electrolyte to 15,000 uF), and then discharged it to a 2.5 V * 0.15 A light bulb, the light bulb burned briefly. I also tried yellow and green ones, but less voltage was removed from them, and the current was small. I'll try modern LEDs one of these days. I agree that they should only be tested in sunlight, but in extreme cases an incandescent lamp will do. Blue and white LEDs will not work, since their phosphor is excited by ultraviolet light, but all those whose crystal emits directly will be suitable.