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
How it Works
The sun finder project directly connects the Solar Panel to the Bulb, and shows you
immediately how much energy is being harvested as light falls onto the Solar Panel.
The Solar Panel converts the light into voltage by the photo-voltaic effect. This is a
physical and chemical process that excites the electrons to a higher energy state,
and a small voltage is generated.
This voltage travels across the wires, and if it is high enough, the LEDs inside the
MonkMakes Bulb perform the reverse process and turn that voltage back into light.
As more light falls on the Solar Panel, a higher voltage appears on the wires, and
that higher voltage causes the Bulb to shine brighter.
But, there is a problem! If you want to power your circuits when the sun is not out or
when it is in a dark room, this direct connection method will not work!
Experiments
1. How bright does the daylight need to be for the Bulb to start to glow?
2. How bright does the sun need to be for the Bulb to glow brightly?
3. What wattage of electric light bulb (as a sun substitute) gives the best glow of
your Bulb?
4. Are LED light bulbs or tungsten light bulbs better for energy harvesting?
5. What happens if you cast a shadow over the solar panel when the sun shines?
6. What happens if it is totally dark?
Results
Record the observations you make from your experiments in this table, and they will
be useful in later projects.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Page 7