Sourcing small solar panels (2-5 v) for student projects

[David Palange]

Hello educators,

Any good leads on sourcing small solar panels (2-5 volts) for projects such as solar powered cars, solar powered lamps, etc.? Also, if you have any laser cut files for either solar powered cars or lamps, please also share.

Thanks,
David

DBI Specialist

Redwood Day School

[Nathaniel MacDonald]

https://solarschoolhouse.org/

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 28, 2025, at 11:35 AM, 'David Palange' via Bay Area Maker Educators <bay-area-mak...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hello educators,

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[Lindsay Nutbar Studios]

I second solar school house!

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bay-area-maker-educators/DB37C19C-3B3F-499B-A040-964AEF2724AC%40reedschools.org.

[Elise Engelhardt]

Locally there is Jameco: 

https://www.jameco.com/shop/KeywordSearchResultView?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&search_type_c=jamecoall&freeText=solar+panel

Some on Digikey (but make sure they have it in stock otherwise 4 weeks)

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/filter/solar-cells/514

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[Diego Fonstad]

I use small solar panels purchased on eBay for my kits.  I can get away with a small panel because I provide a small voltmeter to quantify the electricity and illustrate how sensitive the panels can be to variables such as cloud cover, angle, etc.  Otherwise it is more of a binary lesson: whether the motor or light turns on or not.  

Small voltmeters are also easy to source on ebay.

Happy to provide significant discounts to anyone interested in trying the kits: https://www.lectrify.it/products/stem-kits-renewable-energy

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bay-area-maker-educators/CABrz%2BSe4Hd%3DZba%2BRus4j%2BPD%2BzbALbEBeLggRFrqTrzLyNLifLQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Pam]

Solar schoolhouse is run by one of our local Northbay maker educators! 

Pamela Van Halsema 

(sent from my phone-Please excuse any typos)

On Aug 28, 2025, at 4:41 PM, Diego Fonstad <di...@lectrify.it> wrote:



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[Katie Topper]

So, while we're at this discussion....last year I ordered some mini solar panels to charge 5V motors. My students were building tiny electric cars. 

The panels, even when charged on a hot sunny day did not have enough juice to power the motors. What steps were we missing? 

katie

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[Diego Fonstad]

I would look carefully at the following variables:

- In addition to voltage, what is the Amps rating on the panels? 

- What are the specs on the motors (voltage, power & rpm)?

So for example, this hobby motor from Adafruit is rated at 4.5-9 V:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/711#:~:text=Description,on%20already%20for%20fast%20prototyping

So you might think you could get away with a 6V panel like this one:  https://www.adafruit.com/product/5856

And if you test it by connecting the motor to the panel, it will probably move the motor because it should generate 120mA at peak and the motor only needs 70mA with NO LOAD.  However, as soon as you apply any load to the motor, the motor requires much more power ("Loaded Current" on the motor's spec sheet is 250mA) than the panel can generate.

Possible solutions:

Put multiple panels in parallel to increase current.

Start the cars down a small ramp to remove the large initial torque required to get it started.  

It comes down to the goal of the lesson.  I chose to design my renewable energy kit with a simple voltmeter to make it easy to quantify the relationship between voltage and key variables in renewable energy systems... without going down the full rabbit hole of electrical engineering.

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[Elise Engelhardt]

The Junior Solar Sprint competition kit is a bit expensive but may give you a start on what specs to look for: 

https://solarmade.com/products/jss-kit

Panel Specifications:

• Electrical: 3 Volts, 1+ Amp = 3+ Watts
• Dimensions: 4.5" x 13"

Motor Specifications:

• Operates at 1/2V to 3V
• 300mA start-up (runs at 80mA with no load).
• Low torque - 0.97 mN*m @ 3.0V
• High RPM's - 5470 r/min @ 3.0V

Solar Made JSS panels are constructed from high quality monocrystalline silicon solar cells and operate at 3 Volts, 1+ Amp to produce slightly greater than 3 Watts. Each individual solar cell on the panel measures 52x100mm. The six cells per panel are arranged in a series circuit to increase the ~0.5V of each cell to the 3V necessary to meet the JSS Competition Specifications. Average efficiency of these cells is appx. 16-19%

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[Katie Topper]

thank you, diego! it is always great to get your input! (ba dum bum!)

i will do a bit of tinkering once we get to the unit again.

katie