DIY Solar Panel Handphone Charger not working

[Nakamaru]

well, you see the chip back at the PV cells ?
they're the voltage booster charger circuit.
and im buying a schottky diode (very low voltage drop i believe) and it should arrive today.

[Nakamaru]

okay i might have found the problem here.

yesterday, i bought a handy dandy charger doctor https://www.adafruit.com/product/1852 and it showed some interesting result.
here's the results of both of my PV chargers.
2 Maxeon 0.5V 6A in series (not charging) 4.7 V & 0 A
2 Maxeon 0.5V 6A in series (charging) 4.1 V & (0.05 A Max)

1 Mini solar panel 5V 220mA(not charging) 5.2 V & 0 A
1 Mini solar panel 5V 220mA(charging) 3.7 V & (0.07A Max)

1 A AC Charger (not charging) 5 V & 0 A
1 A AC Charger (charging) 5 V & 1 A

so, is it because my mini solar panel is NOT actually 250mA+ ? (the reading i got from my multimeter)
or what here ?
i'm really confused.

[Guest]

2pcs C-60 Cells will not produce enough Voltage for the cell phone you are trying to charge. My cell phone requires 3.7 Volt. So I would try finding a Solar cell that produces 5 Volts.

Ive got a large glass solar cell from solar garden lights. This one produces 4 volts and .10amps. and powers my cell phone which is 3.7 volt...

[Nakamaru]

so... in conclusion, both of our DIY solar panel is not 250 mA and we've been lied by the store
i used a solar charging chip for the c60 panel

sorry forgot to put in .10 amps. :P

[Guest]

Im confused what you are trying to do.

That solar charging chip requires 0.9 - 5volts
and 500-600ma

[Nakamaru]

sorry, what i was saying is
i got 250mA+ reading from my multimeter

but why my battery doctor only detects 50mA from the small solar panel while charging ?
and why does the voltage drop to 3.7v while charging ?

[Guest]

could try cutting solar cells to get more voltage. LOL
im very clueless man sorry

[inetdog]

One problem for DIYers who are not up to speed on the theory and technology is that thin film devices can look like a single "cell" but actually consist of multiple cells in series on a single substrate.

We generally would call them small thin film panels rather than thin film cells.

When looking at silicon based crystalline cells one cell will produce an output voltage of about .5V. No more, no less.

If you have two identical solar light panels (not cells!) you can wire them in series to get twice the voltage, allowing you to charge a higher voltage battery.

Note also that some solar lights use lithium chemistry batteries (often LiFePO4) which take on the order of 4V to charge, while others use Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries which only need 1.5V to charge. (3.0V if two batteries in series)

[Guest]

Great thanks for the information.I just like the fact there is experimenting going on.