Want to stop wasting energy charging your USB devices? Transform some cheap solar-powered garden lights into your very own solar USB charger. For step-by-step instructions on replicating this hack yourself, watch this video tutorial. Just watch to see how to build your own solar-powered USB charger with a few solar panels from those garden lights and some floppy disk wiring.
The Solar Schoolhouse presents this video tutorial on how to use the Solar Cell Classroom Set. The purpose of this set is to give students hands on experience making electricity using sunlight. See what's inside the set, and then see how to wire three different types of electrical circuits: a simple circuit, a series circuit, and finally a parallel circuit.
If you want to save money on your electric bill, try building some of these solar panels using solar cells wired in a series. You can save money by using extra glass you or a friend may already own if it isn't being used. Soon you can harness the power of the sun by creating your own solar electricity.
Charge your cell phone, mp3 player or other USB-equipped device with the power of the Sun! All you need is a 6-volt solar panel and a female USB cable. Solder them together (this video demonstrates how), and then you have a solar powered USB charger!
Solar power is one way that people have found to conserve energy. Learn how to install a solar panel from a professional in this free energy conservation video series.
Use solar energy, wind energy, and recycled water to saved energy in your home. Learn about saving energy in your home with natural or solar power in this free video.
Check out this Greener Business Show video tutorial on how to make a portable solar powered USB charger with an LED flashlight inside an Altoids tin can. You will see in this episode how to modify a solar path light into the Altoids tin so that you can have a nifty LED flashlight and so you can charge your iPod or cell phone in the gleaming sunlight.
Learn how to cook using solar ovens. See how to cook eggs, peach cobbler cake, rice and dishes the solarcookingnut makes on a typical day.
Discover the power of raspberries! Literally. In this NurdRage science video, learn how some crushed raspberries and some titanium dioxide (TiO2) can create a powered dye-sensitized solar cell. Inside a raspberry is something called anthocyanin, which is a flavonoid pigment. Commercially purchased solar cells are way more powerful than this DIY solar cell, but with a little improvement, who knows. Nurd Rage also lets you know how this works.
Make a solar cell from a condom with this video tutorial. Solar energy is plentiful and better for the environment, so why not take an easily accessible commodity (like a condom), and use it to harvest the power of the sun. To replicate this hack at home, you'll need the following materials: 12 iron hairpins, 2 pennies (pressed before 1982), 2 electrical wires, 1 sheet of aluminum, 2 strong magnets, a condom, and mineral water. For more on making your own condom-based solar cell, watch this h...
As far as the world of consumer electronics goes, it doesn't get much greener than recycling solar panels. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to solder together broken solar panels, giving them new life as a functional AA battery charger, which produces about 6 volts in direct sunlight and about 3 volts indoors. In order to get started on this hack, you'll need a number broken solar panels (which can be had cheap for cheap on the Internet), a low-temperature soldering iron, silver-beari...
This video illustrates how to make napalm. You will need a petri dish, gasoline, and styrofoam to create napalm. Combining the styrofoam and gasoline in a petri dish you allow the styrofoam to dissolve and become a semi-solid substance. It will have the consistency of chewing gum and it will be highly flammable. This substance will be sticky and if lit it should be lit outside and at a distance from anyone as it will produce a gas that is toxic.
Power the clocks at your home with the sun! With a solar cell that costs around $5, you can convert a clock to solar power and avoid buying batteries or running up the electric bill. Instead, connect a rechargable battery to the solar panel with a few wires and some adhesive and soon you'll have enough energy to power your clock for as long as it lasts.
Solar Thermal Microgeneration may be used to reduce your hot water bill, fossil fuel use, and lower your carbon footprint. For water heating, water is collected from solar panels. It is used to heat the water, as it filters through the water heater. Some areas require all new homes to provide an energy rating to buyers. Solar thermal panels harness the suns energy and reducing the need for fossil fuels to heat water. You will need the combination of solar panels, a traditional water heater, a...
The Toyota 4Runner has a manual fuel filler door. To gain access the gas cap open the door. When open the gas cap, turn it counter clockwise slowly. Then pause a few second before remove the cap. You can hang the cap on the back of filler door. The video also advises that Toyota suggests to use regular unleaded 87-octane gasoline. After filling gasoline return the cap and turn clockwise until you hear one click. The 4Runner's closed fuel system will dramatically reduce fuel evaporation. If th...
Sometimes it's more than just inconvenient when your electronics lose power. Sometimes, losing power could be dangerous. Never worry about a dead cell phone again! Charge your portable electronics by harnessing the power of the sun.
Solar lights are a great way to light up your garden. They are both inexpensive and eco-friendly, relying on solar power instead of electricity. In this short video, Mark Donovan of HomeAdditionPlus.com shows you how to set up solar lights.
Check out this science video to see how to make a solar-powered miniature car. To make this solar-powered mini car, you'll need some balsa wood, a small motor, two steel rods, four wheels, four washers, a straw of any color, two gears, a solar cell, hot glue gun, a tape measure and a knife.
Watch and learn how to make this awesome DIY toy car that runs off solar power. This makeshift mini-vehicle is made from a plastic bottle, small motor, tires, supports and a solar panel. See if you can replicate this interesting solar toy, or see if you can come up with a better and cheaper design!
Video tutorial showing how to make your own solar-powered wireless security camera using an off-the-shelf solar panel and any wireless webcam. See creator site for more detailed graphics.
If you're tired of replacing the batteries on your remote control and you would rather have the TV remote charge by itself, grab a few solar cells, rechargable batteries, and a few extra odds and ends. With this mod to your remote, you can let light charge your remote and never buy another battery for it again!
Samimy is at it again. And this time, his ingenuity has tackled a clever way to take something old and broken and restore it to something new and useful. What are we talking about? Modding a broken hard drive and some busted cell phones into a useful rechargeable USB / solar-powered light, which also acts as a portable mobile charger.
We've all been there, taking a nice stroll along the beach and, oh no, a big splotch of tar is plastered on your foot! No need to worry because there are a variety of everyday products that get that tar right off.
Watch as Jordan, a 4-Her from Louisiana, shows you how to make a solar oven from a Pringles can. You can cook anywhere with this great oven; all you need is the sun! For more, as well as step-by-step instructions for building your own solar oven from a disused Pringles potato chip can, take a look!
This Home & Garden how to video is a DIY basic about accentuating outdoor living space with solar lighting. Watch and learn all about strategic placing of solar powered lighting to enhance the look and feel of your front yard. Always start with a plan before setting up and installing the lights on your walkways.
You may not have thunk it, but if you own a stainless steel water bottle you have a great tool that can be used for cooking. Although it won't make three course meals, a stainless steel water bottle can be changed so that you can cook soup, beans, and other small food items.
Omniscience is not required to make some really cool shit happen. Yes, it took a while, but we can make fuel from the Sun! Solar panels are basically our answer to God. And now that we can make solar electricity, finding the most efficient way to harvest it is tricky.
In this video, we learn how to make your own solar panel.The amorphous solar glass is the cheapest but it's also the least efficient. You can do anything you want with these and they are durable. The hexagon cells are the most efficient and most expensive as well. The poly crystalline is almost 2 watts a piece and can be purchase in lots of any size. You have to tab these cells together and they are extremely fragile. Be careful when you work with these. To make these, you will solder tabbing...
Solar panels have been around for quite some time now and more people are taking a shot at being "green" with their homes. Finding and picking the right solar panels can be easy, but getting it ready is another story. This is a task that many people try to tackle on their own, but is sometimes better to hire a professional. In this tutorial, you'll see what it takes to install solar panels on a home. It's easy to follow and can make life better for you and others. Good luck and enjoy!
This is a simple "take home" solar energy lamp project, based around a dirt cheap solar garden lamp, which suits enthusiastic ten-year-olds (with modest adult help).
It's hot this summer, but it's not that easy to cool down when you're on the go. You can't take an air conditioner with you, and a handheld fan will just tire you out, so you'll need to find more creative ways to cool down when you're on the go. One of these ways is a DIY solar-powered fan baseball cap.
If you've got a school science project coming up, or are looking for something fun to do with the kids, you can make this awesome solar system diorama that's shaped like a telescope so you can view the planets by looking into the telescope! In this video you will learn how to create this diorama that will impress even the most stern teacher!
Rick van Man of Container Gardening For Food details his techniques for making a solar-powered food dehydrator out of such household debris as scrap wood and old pint cans. The finished product looks amazingly professional! Truly a must-watch for any DIY-inclined gardening enthusiast.
Create a nighttime chorus of insect sounds by modifying a solar yard light! You'll need some components, and the circuit board is not for the timid. It's pretty complicated with resistors, capacitors, thermistors, amplifiers, and some transformers. If you can manage all of this soldering work, then you will have one hell of a cricket show!
Vavrek shows how to build a twig-powered cooking stove from scratch.This demonstrates a basic portable solar cooker.
Build your very own solar water distiller to discover how nature filters water via the sun and evaporation. The correct term for this is distillation.
Matt Boyd shows you how simple it is to drain a gas engine on an RC car. Fuel belongs in a fuel cannister, not in the vehicle while it's being stored. It will extend the life of the RC engine. Watch this video tutorial and learn how to drain gasoline from the engine of a remote control vehicle.
Stephen Linn of Ultimate Tailgaters shows you three products that will turn your tailgate bar into the talk of the parking lot, with the help of a 2cc gasoline powered blender! Prepare with a wide selection of both alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks.
In this tutorial, we learn how to operate the solar powered vent system in a 2010 Prius. Prius models that come with a moon roof also have a solar powered roof. The control switch is on the left hand side of the steering wheel. With the ignition on and the switch turned on, you can exit and allow the ventilation system to start to clean the air out of the car. Since this doesn't rely on power, it will not drain your battery. This is not only eco-friendly, it's also great for your health and c...
Saving energy in your home is as easy as pie. There are many areas of the home that you can tackle. One area that can be helpful is the water heater. There are a couple of water heaters that you can use to not only save energy but money. One way is by using an active or passive solar water heating system.
