Instructions
Table Of Contents
- Introduction
- Parts
- Using Alligator Clips
- Solar Board Reference
- Project 1 – Sun Finder
- Project 2 – Garden Light
- Project 3 – Self Charging Cooling Fan
- The BBC micro:bit
- Getting Code to Run on the micro:bit
- Project 4 – Adding an Energy Meter
- Project 5 – Energy Logger
- Connecting Up
- Code for the Energy Logger (MakeCode)
- How it works
- Connecting to Your PC
- Pairing Your micro:bit With MakeCode
- Showing the Device Console Graph
- Capturing Data From a Charge and Discharge Cycle
- Downloading Data
- Getting Data into a Spreadsheet Program
- Analysing the Data
- Graphing the Data
- Results
- Understanding the Data
- Understanding Duty Cycle
- How the Solar Store Works
- Project 6 – Intelligent Cooling Fan
- Troubleshooting
- About the Author
- Learning
- Monk Makes Kits
PROJECT 1 – SUN FINDER
In this project you will build a device that finds where the sun is. It uses a solar
panel (photo-voltaic cell) and a low energy bulb to build a device that lights the bulb
when enough sunlight is nearby. It demonstrates limitations of directly connecting
the Solar Panel to a device that uses the energy harvested from the sun.
Connecting Up
The Solar Panel will provide up to 10V but it won't provide a lot of current at that
voltage, so it is safe to connect to the Bulb. However, avoid really bright sunlight
when doing this experiment so that you don't risk overloading your Bulb.
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