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Massive solar panels north of Waikoloa Village
#18
(01-21-2023, 10:24 PM)Durian Fiend Wrote:
(01-21-2023, 09:18 AM)TomK Wrote: The solar constant is roughly 1.4 Kw/m^2. The Moon reflects solar light and it's not that hard to work it out, but you end up with *roughly* half a million times less light than the Sun. That's from the full moon.  I doubt you can charge much with that. Then again, you are still receiving light. If you want to take it beyond this I suggest contacting the solar power people.
That’s definitely not enough to wake my charge controller up from its nightly snooze.

The charge controller has it's own overhead, even under a bright full moon the controller's parasitic draw is going to be higher than what the panel can produce.  If one wanted to experiment with moonlight it would require the charge controller to be removed and directly wire a device like a tiny LED (maybe with a joule thief?).  I imagine it's possible to make the LED glow especially if mirrors were used to amplify the moonlight.  I know that people have used mirrors to generate more electricity on cloudy days, and also that their setups can burn out the panel if the sun unexpectedly comes out.

But if all you are looking for is to light a tiny LED, a better option would be an earth battery.  I don't know how conducive our soil is to making one, but some people get enough juice to power nightlights.  And it doesn't require moonbeams.
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RE: Massive solar panels north of Waikoloa Village - by terracore - 01-21-2023, 11:44 PM

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