Survival Stove. DIY Solar USB Charger - Altoids. If we use two rechargeable AAs that put out a total of 2.4Vs we're going to need a solar panel that is at least 3 - 4Vs just to meet basic levels of charging. The higher the voltage of our solar cell (or cells) the less light we need to charge up our batteries. Now we're also trying to fit this into an Altoids Tin, so we're limited in space. I have found some great 4V solar cells that perfectly fit into Altoids Tins. They're the same ones I use with my Solar AA Altoids Charger. Sure, a bigger and better solar cell would give us added power, but it wouldn't fit into our tin. (Something that has annoyed me with nearly every Altoids Solar Guide out there.) You could also use a combination of several smaller cells to get your four volts. Just remember that when charging NiMh batteries we don't want to throw more than 10% of their capacity at them at any one time.
Home Power Magazine: Solar | Wind | Water | Design | Build. Designing a Stand-Alone PV System. Welcome to OTHERPOWER.COM. The Homebuilt Dynamo - Introduction. The following is taken from the introduction to The Homebuilt Dynamo Why this book? 1969: Decided to live the simple life. Bought a few acres of steep land very cheaply - most of it nearly straight up and down, hard to find a flat spot that wasn't marsh or swamp. did find one big enough to erect a 12'x12' tent which we lived in for a year while building a small house at the bottom end of the property. 1970: Electric power people wanted lots of money - in advance - to put in power poles to house.
Seemed like a better idea was to get a book on small dynamo construction and make our own power. To make a long story short, we couldn't find that book. This book is a picture-diary of how we build our dynamo, with some practical information and advice along the way for anyone following our steps. Having no such directions ourselves, it took us a while. Of modular construction, the Stator Units can be removed and the Frame completely dismantled using only an Allen key set and a small screw driver. Simple Electric Generator.