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Old 12-26-12, 09:27 AM   #1
Daox
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Default DIY solar powered alarm clock

So, I'm in the market for a new alarm clock. My current one is about 10 years old and it has started making an annoying electrical buzzing noise like a bad florescent light. I originally thought it would be cool to get a solar rechargeable alarm clock! Clocks don't use much power and it would be nice to have one less thing drawing 1-3W continuously.

I went on amazon and started searching. I only found a few solar powered alarm clocks and none of them really met my needs (which are actually quite simple). I wanted an alarm clock that I can read at night, none of that pushing a button to light it up stuff since the alarm clock is slightly out of reach. None of the solar powered alarm clocks had this feature, arguably to save on battery life.

What is a guy to do if he can't buy what he wants? DIY of course!

So, I started looking for battery powered alarm clocks of which they are many. You can always add a solar panel to something with batteries. One feature I found while searching is an automatic back lighting feature. They have a light sensor on the clock and when it gets dark in the room it turns the back light on. This saves power during the day and extends battery life.

All I need to do is select a clock and then pick out a solar panel and build a small charge controller for it. Sounds like a fun little project, and I get to get my hands a little dirty with some solar stuff.

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