With spring in full swing and the sun shining longer every day, we’ve got solar on the mind. A great summertime project is a flashback from MAKE Volume 12: the Solar Xylophone! How does it work? A regular xylophone fits inside a solar-powered player box that holds a mallet over each of its 8 chime […]
The folks at Voltaic, purveyors of fine sun-powered products, are looking for a few good DIY solar projects to show on their website. They’re offering a deal: send them details of a project you’re developing, be willing to show the results on the site, and they’ll sell you the components at wholesale. Nice. See their […]
Here is a variation on the Menocino Motor project. The Mendo Motor is a solar-powered magnetically levitating motor invented by super maker Larry Spring, of Mendocino California. This is a great project to do with high school kids. The Motor incorporates woodworking, electricity, magnestism, troubleshooting, and can also be used as a way of teaching […]
Norwegian maker Knut Karlsen got some flexible solar material and decide to try his hand at prototyping solar-powered batteries. He wrapped the cells around some NiMH rechargeables he had on hand and wired them up. He writes: This setup is in fact a (quite weak) trickle charger. It is not ideal, but really convenient. A […]
Here’s an Instructable on adding a supplemental solar panel to a mobile phone. Doesn’t seem like it crazily increases battery life, but certainly can’t hurt. (via Ecofriend)
Here’s a great design for a solar tracker, using bicycle wheels and a linear actuator (salvageable from an old satellite dish): Even simpler, this tracker uses an old clock to drive a gear for the tracker: What other useful designs have you found?
(Image via The Delhi Walla) Here’s an interesting take on the traditional pedicab / rickshaw: The Soleckshaw is still in the trial stages, but the solar powered rickshaw has already people talking and contemplating what the technology could do if these vehicles replace the human-powered kind. The Indian prototype by the Center for Science and […]
