SimplySolar

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2004 Archive of Questions of the Month

December's/January's Question of the Month Subject: motor Question: If I take a battery, solar cell, and motor (like a small toy car motor) and put them together will it work or just run off the battery? Answer: Yes, it will work. Just connect them all in parallel (all the negatives together and all of the positives together) with one exception. In order to prevent the batteries from discharging and possibly damaging the solar cell, a diode should be placed between the solar cell and the batteries. The anode is connected to the solar cell and the cathode (the end with the stripe) is connected to the batteries and the motor. The "on-off" switch should be between the motor and everything else. Febuary's/March's Question of the Month Subject: motor Question: I'm building a solar powered toy and I'm using the usual small electric motor powered by a solar cell. However, I'm not sure what some terms mean: mA, volt, watt, current. I'm trying to buy the correct cell. For example one cell says: Solar Cell Encap 1.5V 200mA, the other one says: 6.0V, 50mA Enclosed Solar Modules. They both cost about the same. My question is, what's the difference, which should I buy? Thanks Answer: I am not sure what you mean by "the usual small electric motor" do your know what voltage (symbol is a V or VDC) or current (Expresseed in amps or milli-amps, symbol A or mA) or watts(symbol is W) it takes? Any two of these three would be very important to know. If you do not have this information do you have a manufacture's part # or do you know what the motor came out of if it is used? To know what solar cell makes sense in your situation, I would need to know the requirements of the motor. To understand these concepts better goto to our Electrical Info page. April's/May's Question of the Month Subject: Taxes Question: This month's answer is being written in response to the numerous questions, complaints, and comments received in April on the subject. My apologies to our non-US readers. Answer: Tax time has come(and gone) again. If you were wondering if UncleSam had some greenbacks to help pay for your green power, this is for you... The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy. Also covers Federal Incentives. http://www.dsireusa.org/ If you ditch your traditional gas-powered vehicle in for a hybrid or other clean-fuel vehicle you may be elgible to get $2,000 or more back on your tax returns. The IRS now goes beyond natural gas and ethanol to consider hybrids (such as the Toyota Prius or Honda’s Civic Hybrid) to be clean-fuel vehicles. The deduction applies to hybrids purchased anytime after 2001, and decreases by $500 each year until it is phased out. 14 states also offer some kind of hybrid incentives so check it out. Want to see more credits and rebates? We suggest you contact your elected officals and tell them! See http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ to figure out who they are and how to reach them, all you need to know is your zip code. For those in NC only Free Wind Energy Evaluation Applications for the NC State Observation of Wind (NC SOW) program are now being accepted by the North Carolina Solar Center. The program loans wind-measuring devices, called anemometers, to help businesses, schools, economic developers, farmers and homeowners determine if there is sufficient wind resource for cost-effective investment and use of a wind turbine http://www.ncsc.ncsu.edu/news/news_story.cfm?ID=153 June's/July's Question of the Month Due to time constraints there was no November/October QOM August's/September's Question of the Month Subject: Food Preservation Question: How can I build a solar dryer? Answer: Our latest project page is dedicated to this issue. See http://solar.iwarp.com/dryer.html October's/November's Question of the Month Subject: fashion Question: why are solar light's so ugly? Answer: Not all solar lights are "ugly" Westinghouse makes several designer-grade solar lights i.e. Farrington which recently graced the cover of Grandin Road or my personal favorite the Heirloom line with its faux stained glass look.

All "Question's of the Month" are subject to editing for space and general readablility.