Thread: Solar panels?

Originally Posted by nobb

Ausi319, I really hope you research this in detail before wrecking your RC car by attempting these mods...

Or atleast ask for your parents' opinion first before spending too much money on this.

i prolly wont even use a generator i'll just use broken solar cells and make my own for it!
make my own solar panel just at different parts on the car!

then just glue or what ever them on too.
and have a battery plug on the end where they connect for positive and negative and then just attach them to my car through the battery place... dont need a battery then.

would that work just scatter them across the body

Well you can scatter the broken parts across the body, but there will be holes still because the pieces dont fit together perfectly. However, if you were to grind them up into a paste and sort of smear it over the body of the car, it will cover the whole thing, so more power.

Also if you grind them up, then mix them with something such as glue and form a thick paste with it it will also serve as a protectant. If you were worried about scratching or such with ramps, this is way to go.

Now the question is how to get the + and - wires. Well it becomes easy. First glue 1 wire to the body. Then spread the paste. That way the wire is on the bottom of the paste. Take another wire and attach it to the top. So now you have wires on the top facing the sun which is the + and a wire under the paste which is the -. To solidify the cells, you need to heat them a bit. You need to bake in an oven for about 10minutes at 500F. This is usually the broiler setting on a home oven. Watch it carefully. It will go from being done, to being bad very fast. Do it in an oven with a light and window and dont walk away from it.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Well you can scatter the broken parts across the body, but there will be holes still because the pieces dont fit together perfectly. However, if you were to grind them up into a paste and sort of smear it over the body of the car, it will cover the whole thing, so more power.

Also if you grind them up, then mix them with something such as glue and form a thick paste with it it will also serve as a protectant. If you were worried about scratching or such with ramps, this is way to go.

Now the question is how to get the + and - wires. Well it becomes easy. First glue 1 wire to the body. Then spread the paste. That way the wire is on the bottom of the paste. Take another wire and attach it to the top. So now you have wires on the top facing the sun which is the + and a wire under the paste which is the -. To solidify the cells, you need to heat them a bit. You need to bake in an oven for about 10minutes at 500F. This is usually the broiler setting on a home oven. Watch it carefully. It will go from being done, to being bad very fast. Do it in an oven with a light and window and dont walk away from it.

i will try that with a different body when i make one that works.

but how will i get it in the oven because it will melt my body which is plastic.

Originally Posted by Ausi319

i will try that with a different body when i make one that works.

but how will i get it in the oven because it will melt my body which is plastic.

That is why you have to watch it. For the first 5 to 10 minutes, the solar panel paste will absorb most of the heat and begin to join making 1 big solar panel. After it starts to melt into one, it is done. If you let it go too long, it will get too hot and start to melt the plastic.

The top body part should come off of your car. So it is just the shell with the paste on it.

To protect the underside of it, do it on a cookie sheet or something like tinfoil to prtect the underside of the car (since it doesnt have paste on it so it more succeptable to burns).

Uh oh, someone get ready to call the fire department.

Also you can try to mix the solar cells with an epoxy, but that can become pretty messy and you need clear epoxy as the yellow-ish coloured epoxy will absorb the sunlight instead of the solar panels, so make sure you get clear. Then you dont need to bake it, but epoxy sets fast and is harder to work with.

So you can do it the easy way with a little rish (first option) or the harder way (second way).

Originally Posted by 2L_SS

If your referring to "regenerative braking" then read this
Almost all electric motors can be used as a generator. You put electricity in and the armature spins, OR spin the armature and it will generate electricity, BUT it won't do both at the same time.

Motors do generate (this limits current) and generators do motor (BEMF/armature reaction). It's just reactionary and the prime mover or power applied has to overcome it..

What about piezoelectric crystals in the shocks instead of oil, to turn the bumps in the road into useful electric energy to supplement the solar paste method.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

Also you can try to mix the solar cells with an epoxy, but that can become pretty messy and you need clear epoxy as the yellow-ish coloured epoxy will absorb the sunlight instead of the solar panels, so make sure you get clear. Then you dont need to bake it, but epoxy sets fast and is harder to work with.

So you can do it the easy way with a little rish (first option) or the harder way (second way).

will that actually work though?

i mean what if you put it on tin foil and just drew what you needed on the tin foil and put it inside the lines?

but i dont think i can use the epoxy thing though.
so what would i put in it that i should have at home?