Ain't no sunshine

grabcad

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue… I think that’s the saying :) Detail description of casing for solar panel is pretty much similar as in my previous model Concept_One so it’s just copy paste but I’ll do it so people don’t have to look: Outer walls are 4mm thick while the one’s inside are 3mm. Batteries are tightly fixed between the walls with possibility to rotate them as the wiring will dictate. On four inner corners I left holes for casing attachment, distance between them (on the smaller side of case) corresponds to corrugated roof panels (if the ones that others are using in this challenge are actually being used). If not – there are two grooves outside of the case thus giving more possibilities for fixing the case. However, I think that no matter which model will win, who ever will be installing this he will probably bolt our casing to whatever piece of sheet metal he can find… if he has a piece of roof panel even better. Cell is fixed with 2mm flange from three corners via top of the case (0.1 spacing between cell and top of the case) and even if it has usable surface all over it still covers only 0.05% of it. I left a 1mm gap in the middle of bottom case walls (as shown on one of the pics) so that even if some water leaks it would still go through that gaps all the way out. Have in mind that case is tilted due to roof so the water will slide. That’s why there is no wall around the bottom of the solar cell. A small amount of silicon can be used along the edges but maybe there is no need. Case lid (top) is screwed with two M4 12mm socket head screws. Casing should be white or with some similar but light reflecting color because solar cell are way more effective if they are cooler. That’s why casing should have some holes so the air can flow. So, the only difference here are two grooves on the casing which allow it to be fixed on various constructions. Casing for LED – Once again bottle cap and body that holds led is made in one piece (white plastic). Procedure is that you put leds in appropriate holes, connect them in series by small pieces of thin sheet metal, connect two cables and then poor epoxy resin over it. When it hardens you’re good to go cause it’s waterproof. Once again I protected everything with cap (named cap cap) so water won’t go in. Although it can’t do any harm to wiring still it can mess up the bleach or whatever else will be in the water. That's it. You know what to do if you like ;)