Hello, I am trying to use 2- 5v mini solar modules in series to power a transistor controlled dc motor. I will have pictures below, but basically, I have 2 mini solar panels wired in series that gives me about 10v with full light and about 3v with minimum light. I have this hooked to an s8050 npn transistor, a protection diode and a small toy DC motor. I also have the base of the transistor hooked to the positive supply. When i tried this same exact setup with an LED, it worked fine but when i try to power the motor nothing happens.
Any suggestions about what i might be doing wrong? My only guess would be that the solars cant provide enough current, but i am really not sure.
Will the solar cells run the motor without a transistor?
What is the rated voltage and current of the motor? Those solar cells don't look big enough to run a motor, try putting them in parallel and drop the base resistor to 330 ~ 470. What is the cell voltage when trying to run the motor?
outsider:
Will the solar cells run the motor without a transistor?
What is the rated voltage and current of the motor? Those solar cells don't look big enough to run a motor, try putting them in parallel and drop the base resistor to 330 ~ 470. What is the cell voltage when trying to run the motor?
No, the solar cells would not run the motor with or without the transistor. But it did work with the solar cells, transistor, and a LED.
I have a picture of the Motor below, i bought it with a basic Arduino kit and i believe it is rated for 6v and i am not sure of the rated current. I will try running them in parallel and using a smaller rated resistor on the base.
And what do you mean the cell voltage, does that mean if i am powering the motor with 5v then while the motor is running, test the voltage and see how much it dropped from the supply voltage??
Thanks for response
I have a few of these solar cells, they have a good voltage (2.5-5V each) but very low current, maximum 50mA I think!
All motors have a large start-up current, with or without load! 0,05A would be a very very low current for any motor.
Maybe you could make a very small motor run with full sun and these solar panels, but the start-up current would make it impossible to start turning.
What you could do is put in a very large capacitor or even super-capacitor to help with your startup current, let the capacitor charge up before turning on the motor.
GeronimoDK:
I don't see a picture of a motor anywhere?
You have two problems in your setup!
I have a few of these solar cells, they have a good voltage (2.5-5V each) but very low current, maximum 50mA I think!
All motors have a large start-up current, with or without load! 0,05A would be a very very low current for any motor.
Maybe you could make a very small motor run with full sun and these solar panels, but the start-up current would make it impossible to start turning.
What you could do is put in a very large capacitor or even super-capacitor to help with your startup current, let the capacitor charge up befodre turning on the motor.
that is a great idea about using capacitors and i am also going to wire more panels in parallel. i forgot to post the pic of the motor last night. i will do it later on today.
thanks gor response
OK, that does make sense, which indicates that the solar panels don't produce enough current to run the motor.
@tj: time to buy a multimeter! Then you can actually measure the "short circuit current" (i.e. the maximum possible current) produced by those cells, and compare that with the current drawn by the motor, when it is running from batteries. Very instructive.
