Hi all,
While I await my new Kobo Glo (Thanks ScrapKing!), thought I would share with you a little project that I got inspired to do here recently.
After seeing this project at Instructables.com:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sola...ader/?ALLSTEPS
...I got inspired to do the same. I was able to get a used Kobo N647 1GB model (pink back, I know, I'm confident in my man-hood though!) off of ebay for $33, and decided to put a 6V 160mA Solar Power in the back to charge it while on vacations, outside, etc. and not near a convenient power source.
Here are the photos in order, with some descriptions:
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Pre-Surgery, to record it's pristine working condition one last time before going in. . .
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Picked up this solar panel at RadioShack. Its rated at 6V and 160mA but I got about 150mA in full sunlight. That will work! The original project had two solar panels wired in parallel that provided about 4V at 100mA. I wanted a bit more oomph to my battery recharge.
![]()
The green circuit is a break-out board, 6 slot, and the tiny, I mean TINY circiut to its right is a small MAX1551 Voltage Controller. It can accept two sources of input power: USB (About 100 mA) and DC (Max of 260mA). I wired my slightly more powerful solar panel to the DC input.
![]()
A bit closer view. I ended up not using the 1N4001 Diode.
![]()
A highly magnified view of the board and chip, post-solder. Wow was this tricky!
![]()
Now with the board wired up to the Solar Panel and the leads that will eventually go to the Kobo's internal battery.
![]()
Kobo N647 Internals. See the 1000mAh battery? Should juice up nicely from our 160mA Solar Panel. The voltage controller keeps the output to the battery at around 4V so as to not overload the 3.7V batt inside.
![]()
Here we go! Everything is installed and ready to be tested. NOTE: Use a Dremel or other cutting device on the Kobo's back. Never ever do it by hand....like me! :p
![]()
All done! It powers on! I didn't kill it!
![]()
After 3 hours in bright direct sunlight, the batt goes from 10% to about 50% or so, but drops back to around 30-40%. We are sliding into low-light winter and this is a fine time to be starting a Solar Powered project!
Hope you enjoy! I for sure won't be doing this to my Kobo Glo!
While I await my new Kobo Glo (Thanks ScrapKing!), thought I would share with you a little project that I got inspired to do here recently.
After seeing this project at Instructables.com:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sola...ader/?ALLSTEPS
...I got inspired to do the same. I was able to get a used Kobo N647 1GB model (pink back, I know, I'm confident in my man-hood though!) off of ebay for $33, and decided to put a 6V 160mA Solar Power in the back to charge it while on vacations, outside, etc. and not near a convenient power source.
Here are the photos in order, with some descriptions:
Pre-Surgery, to record it's pristine working condition one last time before going in. . .
Picked up this solar panel at RadioShack. Its rated at 6V and 160mA but I got about 150mA in full sunlight. That will work! The original project had two solar panels wired in parallel that provided about 4V at 100mA. I wanted a bit more oomph to my battery recharge.
The green circuit is a break-out board, 6 slot, and the tiny, I mean TINY circiut to its right is a small MAX1551 Voltage Controller. It can accept two sources of input power: USB (About 100 mA) and DC (Max of 260mA). I wired my slightly more powerful solar panel to the DC input.
A bit closer view. I ended up not using the 1N4001 Diode.
A highly magnified view of the board and chip, post-solder. Wow was this tricky!
Now with the board wired up to the Solar Panel and the leads that will eventually go to the Kobo's internal battery.
Kobo N647 Internals. See the 1000mAh battery? Should juice up nicely from our 160mA Solar Panel. The voltage controller keeps the output to the battery at around 4V so as to not overload the 3.7V batt inside.
Here we go! Everything is installed and ready to be tested. NOTE: Use a Dremel or other cutting device on the Kobo's back. Never ever do it by hand....like me! :p
All done! It powers on! I didn't kill it!
After 3 hours in bright direct sunlight, the batt goes from 10% to about 50% or so, but drops back to around 30-40%. We are sliding into low-light winter and this is a fine time to be starting a Solar Powered project!
Hope you enjoy! I for sure won't be doing this to my Kobo Glo!
