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DIY Solar
Solar Bicycle Trunk Bag
One of our customers was inspired by a previous post on solar panniers to trick out his bicycle with a solar powered trunk bag. He gives detailed instructions on how to construct your own. (more...)
Build solar powered panniers
Solar Charge Battery Powered Toys
I recently purchased two remote control cars for my nephews from a dollar store. The cars came with three rechargeable AA batteries and also a cheap AC charger that connects to the car, but unfortunately grew hot when plugged in (a classic wall wart). So I'm giving them the cars with a solar panel and [...]
Making a Solar Camera Bag
We know camera buffs like to keep their valuable gear well padded and snug inside their bags. We asked photographer Matt Tarr to mod a Voltaic backpack so he can carry and charge his Canon 7D. We have some camera bag kits are available, you just need to add the foam dividers and car charger [...]
Make a solar camera bag
Solar-ized IKEA Holiday Lights
Looking to take your Christmas tree off-grid this season? Here's an easy way to go solar if you have a Voltaic bag or a few solar panels and a battery. Thanks to Wheelgirl for the inspiration on this one. This is a modification of her idea.
(more...)
Create solar Christmas lights
Louis Voltaic Solar Bag
There's a new IT bag in Los Angeles. Solar DJ Mark Farina has outfitted a thrift store designer bag with one of our 1.3 Watt solar panels and battery. We think the design is quite clean and Mark is taking requests to solar-up your bag.
(more...)
Make your own designer solar bag
Waterproof Solar Laptop Charger
The fabric on our Generator is waterproof but water can still seep in through the seams in really wet weather. If you are in an extreme wet environment, you need a drier solution. The panel is already waterproof, so you just need to focus on the battery. Using a commercially available waterproof case, this [...]
Wireless Monitoring of a PV Solar Panel
Small PV solar panels are ideal for outdoor embedded hardware applications. The panels are inexpensive and using them prevents the need for extension cords. You can monitor the panel and battery pack to make sure you are producing adequate electricity. This project explains how to use two Xbee modules, a laptop, and Pachube to view online the [...]
Monitor and Publish Data from your PV System
Custom Solar Bike Panniers
Sometimes our customers want all the solar charging functionality of our bags but in a different form. Benjamin Morrison, an avid cyclist, wanted to solar-ize his panniers and produced one of the nicer mods we have seen. These are his instructions from the project. (more...)
Mod your own solar bag.
Solar-Powered Automated Garden
I created an automated gardening system called Garduino to monitor soil moisture and automatically water plants, provide supplemental sunlight and warn me when soil temperature drops below 50 degrees Farenheit. Using, Voltaic's solar panels and battery pack, you can make your Arduino-based gardening even more sustainable by eliminating the need for grid-based power. (more...)
Solar power your garden
Mobile Hotspot Redux
Several years ago, Popular Science wrote an article about creating your own mobile hotspot with a Voltaic Backpack. A lot has changed since then. We tested the very small $150 Cradlepoint CTR350 Mobile Router with both the Backpack and Generator and were impressed with just how easy it was to set up a solar-powered WiFi [...]
Create your own mobile hotspot.
Charge Car Batteries with a Voltaic 15 Watt panel
The 15 Watt Panel from Voltaic Systems is ideal for road trips, camping, and festivals. The combination of this panel and battery can produce enough energy to easily charge a laptop / cell phone / ipod, inflate an air mattress, power a boom box, recharge AA batteries, run lights and charge power tools.
The panel itself is [...]
Learn how to charge a lead-acid battery with a 15 Watt Panel
Build your own MacBook MagSafe adapter
If you have an old MagSafe power cable available, you can build your own adapter to connect with the Voltaic Generator battery. Depending on your MacBook, you will get between 1 to 3.5 hours of runtime from a full Voltaic battery. (more...)
Instructions and parts to create your MagSafe adapter.
