| Looking to take your Christmas tree off-grid this season? Here’s an easy way to go solar if you have a Voltaic bag or a few solar panels and a battery. Thanks to Wheelgirl for the inspiration on this one. This is a modification of her idea. |
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Step 1: Parts and Tools Ikea Kallt Light Chain with 10 Bulbs: $1.99 (we used two, but there is enough power in the battery for more)
Your Voltaic bag or…
1. Battery Pack V11 ($40)
2. Mini USB Circuit box set ($3) 3. Voltaic Power out cable (included with battery) 4. 1-3 Voltaic 6 Volt Solar Panels — 3 panels will fully charge 11 Watt Hour battery in 7-8 hours of sun, 1 panel will take 21-24 hours — ($25-75) Sharp knife
Electrical tape or heat shrink tubing
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Step 2: Prep the connections Sever the connections from the inside of the Kallt battery case with an exacto knife – take note of which one is negative and which one is positive. You can save the case for other projects. Strip off insulation with a sharp knife. Strip the end of the Voltaic power out cable and find the positive (red) wire and the negative (black) wire.
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| Step 3: Connect the lights to the Power Out cable Connect positive ends of Kallt light(s) to positive ends of power out cable, and negative ends of Kallt lights to negative ends of power out cable and cover with electrical tape or heat shrink tubing. You’re creating a parallel connection between the power out cable and your Kallt light(s).
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| Step 4: Test Plug other end of Power Out cable into battery pack and let there be light! On the silver JetPack battery, you can adjust the voltage to 3.5 Volts to get a longer runtime.
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| Step 5: Decorate
Cover your favorite tree or lampost with the lights. Charge your battery with the solar panels during the day so it will have enough juice to run the lights for several hours in the evening. We got over 5 hours of holiday light from a full battery.
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