Solar related things you have built

[hugemoth]

When my now grown daughter was 4 or 5 years old I was in the habit of taking a couple mile walk every day. She couldn't keep up so I built her a solar powered tricycle out of junk in my garage. It has a 12v RV battery powering an old trolling motor driving a lawn tractor transaxle with 5 forward gears and reverse. The motor had no speed controll, just on and off but 3rd gear was the perfect walking speed. Parking it in the sun was enough to keep it charged.

 

[SeaGal]

Hope she's become a high-flying EV designer now

 

[murmeister]

That's amazing!

Well done.

The 80's called... they want their carpet back! lol

 

[hugemoth]

My daughter was in grade school when compact fluorescent bulbs were new. I built this exercise bike generator to demonstrate the difference in energy consumption between CF and incandescent bulbs. Using a battery, small inverter, and a multimeter I would have the kids peddle a CF bulb then switch to an incandescent bulb with similar lumens. Instant feedback and great fun for the kids.

BTW the generator was a 110 volt DC permanent magnet motor from a weed wacker with a diode in the circuit. It took a bit of trial and error to get the best gearing.

 

[hugemoth]

I used a propane RV refrigerator until one night it sprung an ammonia leak. I set a record for waking up and getting out of the house! I bought a little dorm refrigerator, added a couple inches of Styrofoam insulation all around and covered it with shower board. I swapped out the compressor with a 12v Danfoss unit, I was a refrigeration tech at the time. Worked great until I let the smoke out of the controller with too much voltage.

 

[Rednecktek]

Mounted a diesel heater in a rolling toolbox, built a 100ah battery to power it that sits under the heater, SCC has the orange extension cord out to MC4 for a solar panel. Works great when the power's out and it's butt-nugget cold outside!

 

[wattmatters]

I built this exercise bike generator to demonstrate the difference in energy consumption between CF and incandescent bulbs.

Reminds me of this: