 The Coolest Shirt In Town!
This shirt was designed to help me stay cool
during the day. Out here in the Desert South West, the temperatures
can get well over 100' (F) degrees everyday. The shirt was made
from 100% cotton and velcro. The solar panels on the back produce
6vdc @ .23mAh (6volts at 0.2 Millionth of an Amp Hour) thats
just enough for the cool-box to do its job. The cooler-box is
a 6v electronic 'brushless' fan with a custom heat deployer,
mounted in a thin block of styrofaom.The small solar panel came
from an old yard light, and larger one came from an old Radio
Shack kit, but i don't think its around anymore.
The shirt has a vent in the back which; when
closed looks like an ordinary shirt. But, if you lift the flap,
you'll see the velcro mounting area for the cooler-box. The solar
panels are mounted in cotton as well. The shirt and the pocket
for the cooler-box is machine washable, and when everything is
attached it only weighs 1 pound. The only draw-back is; when
it gets moist from sweat or humidity, it tends to get a little
klingy. The cooler part of the shirt works great all day, and
it can reduce the temp by almost 12' degrees which means; if
the outside temp is 110' then, the air blowing on your back is
about 98', and that helps alot. In the middle of the summer;
desert temps can range from 110' to 120' daily, and anything
that drops the temp below 'heat stroke' level (102-104) helps
me or anyone feel beter. Heat Stroke is dangerous. If your body
or 'brain' temp is over 103 for a period time you will shut-down
and sometimes with lasting effects. (you'll never forget the
instant pain and confusion as you collapse, if no one helps you,
you will die!) It can take days, even weeks for anyone to recover
from heat stroke. The best thing for a heat stroke vicktim is;
an immediate ice bath...and prayer.
All you do to use this shirt is; mount the
solar panels on the shirt at the upper-back area and plug it
into the cool-box, then lift the flap and stick the cooler under
flap and press it on. Then put on the shirt and turn it on. The
cooler-box also has a dust filter so when you start sweating,
you don't get a thin film of mud on your back. I was hoping to
test this shirt for a few years, but it was retired only after
1 year. It was used all summer in 2008 and is still working.
But since its made from real cotton, it shrunk! (nearly a whole
size!)
I was hoping to use the solar panels to charge
my MP3 player while working with the shirt on, but they did'nt
have the juice i needed. So off to the etore i went....
Solar Powered "AA" Battery
Charger
After looking the town over for a portable
Solar Phone Charger, I began realize that nobody sold one, and
if they did, it would be way to much. I figured this was another
CopyCat Project that would have to be shelved, but then I remebered
the Lawn & Garden center at my local walmart and kmart. Wow,
i never thought i would see of all the different types of 'cheap'
solar panels available for just a few bucks, but i decided to
go with some quality and chose the Westinghouse Yard Light Set
"C", which comes with two (2) 3v solar panels and at
.13mAh each. I knew that I had to have atleast 6v at 0.50amps
or better for a short charge (3 or 4 hours) on the Cell Phone,
and the iPod as well.
After taking the first set apart; i decided
that i was going to need another set inorder to get the 'fast
charge time i wanted (1 or 2 hours). Taking these lights apart
is easy, but be carefull when (or if) you remove the solar panels
from their little box or holder. The solar panels are glass,
and mounted on plastic, trying to remove them from the plastic
holder may result in the glass breaking. If you do manage to
get the panels from their housing, just be carefull with those
edges (they sharp!) use electrical tape or something to protest
you while handling them.
For this part of the project, we only need
the mini 3v 'trickle' charging circuit if we intend to charge
a single "AA" battery. You will have to cut the light
sensor's leads, and wire them together for the charging circuit
to stay on i think (sorry i forgot), or just add a diode and
remove the thing all together like i did. For the option of charging
2 "AA"s use standard 2200-2300 amp rechargable batteries
(thats about 8 times the power per hour over the batteries that
orginally came with the light set). NOTE: the batteries that
came with the light set are NOT your average battery! Whatever
you do, don't use the batteries that come with the light kit
unless you know what to do with them. They are 3.2volt DC at
400mAh. (weak). These batteries should not be used for this project
unless you use them wisely. They, can damage other devices
if used by mistake. They look just like the standard "AA"s
we all know and use.
Using regular AA rechargables for this part
of the project is easy, but you might what to do a few modifications...for
example, i added another battery basket inside the panel's housing
to make it more compatible with my needs today. If you don't
add another basket, then you should be able to recharge a standard
AA in about 2 hours. You can use the mini 'trickle' charger that
came with the light set, but only in this part will it do any
good. If you do make it so it can charge 2 AAs, then the charge
time will be doubled.
This next part of the project was to make
these panels charge my iPod MP3 player and or Cell Phone. After
a little math, i found that i needed to switch between 3.3v-6vdc
at 0.50 - 0.80mAh to make a decent charger, so i bought a couple
more panels for added power and made a 'mating place' on the
panel's leads to add more panels. With solar panels being DC
(Direct Current) same as batteries; you can wire them together
(in series - possitive to negeative) to get more voltage, and
if you wire them in parralell (possitive to possitive) your voltage
will be the same but the amperage (power per hour) will be stronger.
If you decide on the 2 AA battery version,
keep in mind that the charging circuit is to big to fit inside
the panel's box and has to be moved. OR use a single (1 meg)
diode in its place inorder to fit the panel back on top of the
housing while charging your batteries.
Solar Powered iPod, and Cell Phone
Charger
Almost everything small and portable these
days is; low-power or under power from batteries, a low-power
transformer that you plug-in the wall, or from a car's cigarette
lighter. These low-power devices only use around 3 to 5 volts,
and can be charged by almost anything.
Here you can see the 6 volt battery pack (4
x 1.5"AA" rechargables), it has its own On/Off switch
already intalled. It was purchased from Radio Shack during a
'clearance' sale for about $1.99, (sorry, i don't remember the
cat# number). I mounted and wired the panels in series and got
the needed voltage and amperage for the cell phone charger, and
ended up mounting everything in more cotton pockets.
You should concider a folding charger that
will protect the panels and when done it should fit in a glovebox,
backpack, or toolbox quite nicely. If you or your sister are
skilled on the sewing machine, then sew everything together as
to be the most effective. You should concider a spot of glue
or silicone on the panel's wire leads, because you don't want
them to come loose during or after mounting.
You should also concider some alternative
mountings. For example, some people use big hats or umbrellas
in the desert west to protect them from the Sun instead of rain.
Stay powered and keep cool...
-CopyCat '10
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This project is still being tested
and will be available for download soon. It will also be added
to the Copycat Archive collection on DVD. Be sure to signup for
the CopyCat Newsletter inorder to get the latest news on any
project or software.
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