AboutRalph Salier-Hellendag Expertise Science Fair Judge for many years and experience with robotics, biology, chemistry, industrial processes, metalurgy and metal forming.
Experience Science Fair Judge for many years and have helped several students get to state level competition. Most recently 2 of my students received state level awards and one went on to the nationals in Washington DC.
Education/Credentials BA Archaeology - Anthropology
MA Business Anthropology
Question Hi my grandson is trying to experiment with changing over the electrical component of the Christmas lights to charge by solar can you please help with some information
Answer Hi Carol,
This can be done but generally you will need some additional equipment besides a Photovoltaic solar panel array. You will need the following list of equipment:
Power converter - This converts the power from the solar panels to useable power
Deep Cell Battery - This is a type of lead acid battery that can take an in-depth charge from the power converter
A tie line box - This attaches the power from the battery into the household current
However, if what he wants to do is simple such as taking some LED (Light Emitting Diodes) and create an array of lights, this could be powered with much less equipment and fuss.
Getting solar cells or photovoltaic cells is easy on e-Bay and will cost around $100 for a pack of cells. How many are needed t o do what you want is a matter of calculating the amount of total wattage of the bulbs and the out put of the panel of cells. There are a number of sites that explain how to build one your self. (DIY - Do it yourself) So, go to www.google.com and put in DIY Solar Panels and several sites should come up. These will also generally give you some of the details on the other equipment such as I have listed above.
This may be a bit beyond your grandson depending on his age.
