need help on small solar panel project.

[sydcal2011]

hello everyone.

I want to use a solar cell(3x3") to power a 12V, 0.7A fan.

all i can find is that the solar cell has extremely small watt(0.5watt), and the rating is 5v 100mA, which is not enough to power up my fan. so i am thinking to add a DC-DC converter to step up the voltage to 12V. Will i get a boost on the current too? As i notice, there are a lot DC-DC boost up converter out there and claim it can output a few amps? is that true? Any suggestion to help me to finish the project is appreciated.

Welcome to throw me some ideas.

Thank you for your helps.

Jan

 

[CocaCola]

You can't magically create energy...

The solar cell supplies 0.5 Watts, you require 8.4 Watts, not going to happen...

If you 'boost' the 5v @ 100mA to 12v you would get about 12v @ 40mA on a good day, likely closer to 12v @ 30mA That is far from the 700+mA you need to get that fan cranking...

Get a matrix of 20-30 of them solar panels and then you might start to see results...

 

[GonzoEngineer]

You can't magically create energy...

The solar cell supplies 0.5 Watts, you require 8.4 Watts, not going to happen...

If you 'boost' the 5v @ 100mA to 12v you would get about 12v @ 40mA on a good day, likely closer to 12v @ 30mA That is far from the 700+mA you need to get that fan cranking...

Get a matrix of 20-30 of them solar panels and then you might start to see results...

I couldn't have said it better than this.

 

[BobK]

Well, you could use your solar panel + a DC-DC converter to charge a 12V battery, then run the fan off the battery. It would take about 20 hours of charging to run the fan for 1 hour though.

Bob

 

[sydcal2011]

How do I charge a battery using the solar panel? I have no idea at all. Thanks

 

[BobK]

Depends on the battery type.

http://batteryuniversity.com/

However, my reply was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. It you want to run the fan for about 1 hour a week this would work, otherwise you need a bigger solar panel to run it whenever the sun out.

Why don't you tell us more about your requirements.

Bob