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#1 |
Zealot
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Karma: 1196756
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: Kobo Glo, Kindle DX
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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: ![]() 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! ![]() ![]() 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! |
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#2 |
No Comment
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Karma: 23878043
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo: Not just an eReader, it's an adventure!
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Cool!
I've looked at installing a jack on a Touch so that I can get power out of it to plug a book light into, but the clearances inside make it difficult to mount the jack in the device, and I really don't want wires hanging out of the device. Although, now that I think about it, it may be possible to mount the jack outside the device, on the top edge... |
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#3 | |
Gangnam style!
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Karma: 3646106
Join Date: Aug 2011
Device: Kobo
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#4 | |
Zealot
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Karma: 1196756
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: Kobo Glo, Kindle DX
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LOL good one! Seriously though, as much trouble as I'm going through to get a Glo (but made easier thanks to a kind fellow forum member), I am not going to do surgery on it anytime soon
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#5 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Toronto
Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour
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Why not try to make an external USB charger? A small device with batteries and a USB cell. Let the solar cell charge the batteries, and then, connect that (with charged batteries) to the Kobo via USB?
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#6 |
Zealot
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Karma: 1196756
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: Kobo Glo, Kindle DX
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Peter,
Funny you say that, I have components incoming for me to do just this. I have a 260mA solar panel at 6V that I will be using to make a USB charger that can charge both iPhones and everything else USB'ish ![]() I wanted the kobo to be stand alone self-recharging. and I wanted to conquer simple electronics. |
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#7 |
Bibliophile
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Karma: 1147338
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: New Zealand
Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kobo Touch
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Awesome!! I have always thought that it would be great to charge a Kobo by solar. It's a low power device. It makes sense. Then you could take it camping! (^^)
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#8 |
Zealot
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Karma: 1196756
Join Date: Sep 2012
Device: Kobo Glo, Kindle DX
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#9 |
I ♥ Calibre
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, Voyage, Sony PRS-350, Hudl2
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Very impressive
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#10 |
Evangelist
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: Kobo Vox and Glo
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Very nice indeed.
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#11 |
Guru
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: Kobo Aura
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Considering the low power requirements of an ereader, I've wondered why none of the manufacturers have built solar panels into the edges of their devices. Not that it would eliminate the need to periodically charge them with an electrical adapter, but it seems it would make it so that the time between plug-ins would be greatly extended.
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#12 | |
Gangnam style!
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Device: Kobo
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#13 |
Evangelist
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Victoria, BC
Device: Kobo Vox, Kobo Glo
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Unless it's an additional SKU, at a price that makes it worth offering.
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Solar Powered E reader? | prushellen | More E-Book Readers | 3 | 01-04-2012 02:18 PM |
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