So in terms of our solar panel project, we’ve made some significant progress. Here are some of the outdoor conditions in which we tested our panel.
And here’s what we’ve learned:
1. There is some current going through solar panels that are placed in shaded conditions.
2. This may not be enough current to charge the battery (standard lead acid motorcycle battery) used in current camera traps.
3. But it may be enough to trickle charge batteries for other types of cameras. Or even cell phones, like an Android.
So now our next step is to figure out how much current and voltage an actual Android would draw when it’s being used.