Solar Powered Guitar Pedal

[TweedBassman]

something i've been working on for a while, finally finished it up.

what is it?!?

it is a germanium boost/overdrive powered by a 1.2 volt rechargeable battery. the switch on the side goes from 'on' to 'off/charge.' the solar panel on the top charges the battery in the sunlight when the pedal is switched off.

the circuit is a modified LowFuzz with no voltage sag. the solar equipment was ripped out of one of those driveway/lawn lights.

controls are volume and low cut; it can be bright and clean or get a little nasty and heavy, just turn the low cut to taste for your amp/guitar. there's a surprising amount of volume for only 1.2 volts, plenty for a volume boost probably about 10-12 dB. it's pretty damn good sounding, i'll get some clips up soon.

[starcastic]

Wow! Nice work!

[TweedBassman]

here's some clipzorz. volume is set to full up, bass cut is set about half way. i tried to turn it on and off using the same riffs.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7498920

i'm just happy it worked lol.

[theshaggyfox]

Wha!?! that's ridiculous, and awesome! Nice!

[hazelwould]

Awesome!!

[metalmariachi]

Cool

Just how long will the charge last?

MM

[letsgocoyote]

WOULD BUY.

put into production.

WOULD BUY.

[TweedBassman]

Cool

Just how long will the charge last?

MM

i played the prototype for about an hour, with no change, but i'd bet it will start to sputter out around 1 1/2 or 2 hours.

takes about 3 or 4 hours to charge up, just leave it in a sunny window. charged by the time you have breakfast!

[TweedBassman]

WOULD BUY.

put into production.

WOULD BUY.

haha... thanks! i'll have to see if it would be something people would want, i dunno... plus it's kinda lame to hack up lawn lights for guts, so i'd need to source the solar panels etc.

not ruling out a small run though, we'll see!

[hazelwould]

WOULD BUY.

put into production.

WOULD BUY.

haha... thanks! i'll have to see if it would be something people would want, i dunno... plus it's kinda lame to hack up lawn lights for guts, so i'd need to source the solar panels etc.

not ruling out a small run though, we'll see!

Did you get the solar panel from the IKEA lights?

They had a pretty good assortment this year in their summer collection.

[TweedBassman]

home depot actually... but ikea is a great idea.

i dunno... what do you guys think? too gimmicky/lame/problematic? i can see this as a very useful pedal for a little light OD/dirt for say, a country/indie type sound, for a guy on tour who wants just one pedal. throw it on the dashboard of the van, grab it and go to the gig. never worry about batteries dying or finding power supplies etc.

[leastwise]

I think it's a really neat idea. Something new and fresh. I say go for it.

[letsgocoyote]

Im so certain you can get cheap little panels for it. If you don't want to wade through mouser to find one, i bet if you find a b.e.a.m. robotics sight they would have some ideal little panels for a low cost.

P.S. is there any detriment to the battery for leaving it on charge for too long?

[TweedBassman]

Im so certain you can get cheap little panels for it. If you don't want to wade through mouser to find one, i bet if you find a b.e.a.m. robotics sight they would have some ideal little panels for a low cost.

P.S. is there any detriment to the battery for leaving it on charge for too long?

coooool... i'll look into it.

the lights that i used have a small circuit board attached; it has a few transistors that switch the solar panel off when the battery reaches full charge, and turns the light on when it gets dark. i scrapped the dark sensor/LED but the over-charge protection is still there.

i wonder how long these can be re-charged? i've seen some of those lights go for years without problems.

[TweedBassman]

Source for solar cells pretty inexpensive : http://www.flexsolarcells.com/OEM_Components.php

... found via this DIY solar robot site : http://www.instructables.com/id/E4YBZZ1O0BET2JY4GR/

sweet! $4 for a small one. nice.

oh that reminds me... forgot to email you back. one moment please....