Can anyone help me out with some advice? I'm wanting to expand on the idea of my solar panel christmas lights that I just packed away for another year, and put something a little more permanent/powerful in place. What I have in mind is a small wind powered generator to trickle charge a car batterry, which can then drive a series of small LED lamps installed up the driveway to light the way at night. I have found plenty of solar-based projects, but these tend to be either large scale (and therefore employing a relatively expensive panel) or small scale low voltage (which I could buy from my local hardware shop fairly cheaply, but wouldn't be useful because the driveway is shaded and nearest sunlit area is some distance away). The other aim for my project is "cheap" - making use of as much recycled, reclaimed, or readily available components as possible.
I can build myself a wind powered generator and the lamps themselves - I can even string the two together, but that means the wind has to blow for my driveway to be lit - hence the battery and charging need. It is really the circuitry (charging/switching) and design concerns in that area that I need advice on...
Cheers,
Graham.
I can build myself a wind powered generator and the lamps themselves - I can even string the two together, but that means the wind has to blow for my driveway to be lit - hence the battery and charging need. It is really the circuitry (charging/switching) and design concerns in that area that I need advice on...
Cheers,
Graham.