Solar battery chargers are portable eco-friendly devices that absorb solar energy to create electricity for charging devices like cell phones, laptops, car batteries, electric scooters, etc. Solar battery chargers are convenient to use and allow you to have a reliable and efficient source of power to use anytime and anywhere. Access to a good amount of sunlight and a good quality solar battery charger can assure you of keeping your devices always charged and ready to use.
It can be divided into two main kinds: with an in-built battery and without an in-built battery. Now, let’s go through the working principle of a solar battery charger in detail.
How Does a Solar Battery Charger Work?
Solar battery chargers consist of solar panels that produce electricity from the sun through photovoltaic (PV) cell blocks present in the panels.
The first thing to do to make it work is to expose the solar battery charger to sunlight. On a good sunny day, the individual PV cells made up of silicon catch the photons from sunlight. They need to get proper sunlight to work effectively, the stronger and more intense the lights the more effective electricity they generate.
When photons are absorbed by the solar cell, they trigger a chemical reaction that leads to an imbalance in the distribution of negatively and positively charged particles within the silicon. As a result, an electric field is generated, forcing the electrons towards the solar cell. This process develops a negative charge on one side and a positive charge on the other side of the cell.
Then these two sides are connected using an indirect circuit such as the terminals of a solar battery charger. The electrons are later discharged into the load and electricity is produced. This is how the solar battery charger works. Now let’s see how it works using an internal rechargeable battery and an inverter.
Working Using an Internal Rechargeable Battery
Some solar battery chargers are unable to directly charge your devices like a cell phone or iPad. For this, an internal rechargeable battery is usually installed that is charged through the solar panels and then that stored charge is redistributed to your devices through a compatible USB cable. This gives you the flexibility to charge your devices even at night or some other time when the sunlight is not present.
Working with an Inverter
All devices do not use direct current (DC) electricity to charge their batteries, so a charge inverter is needed to convert the electricity from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). This process alters electricity into a more usable form. It is also critical to note that some devices primarily use AC electricity to charge their devices while others use DC electricity. Therefore, you might not need a charge inverter for some devices.
Also Read: What is the Working of Solar Mobile Charger?
What are the Components of Solar Battery Charger?
The solar battery charger consists of:
- Control circuit – It manages the volume and direction of the output current and ensures that the light gets turned into electricity.
- Output interface – The output interface of the solar battery charger connects the charger and charging device to convert electrical energy into output current, transferring the charger’s electric energy to the charging device.
- Solar light panel – The silicon materials for panels are of two types namely amorphous and crystalline.