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Size doesn't matter......

A project log for WiFi Rocks

I purchased a tiny WiFi router from Indiegogo. Time for an IoT Pet Rock

ozqubeOzQube 07/27/2014 at 13:230 Comments

OK. So I knew that Thin Film solar cells weren't as efficient as mono or polycrystalline cells, but here's a nice comparison for you all.

So the larger one is the solar panel from the shed sensor light, and the smaller blue one is a single polycrystalline cell.  I measured the voltage just prior to this picture, and the large panel was 5V, and the small cell .5V. Ohms Law gives us 219mW, and 85mW respectively.

The Thin Film panel is a bit over 3 times the size of the polycrystalline one, yet is only 2.5 times the output.

Another surprising test was in direct sunlight, the thin film panel didn't get close to the 350mA that I did from the halogen light!

Either way, I think I'm going to need a bigger panel to support the 1.3W power requirement!

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