2 Watts from an old 2N3055 as a solarcell ?

[j3s]

Hi All,
   A couple of years ago we did some experimenting with this but never tried a transistor in a can as you have, basically we found that diodes and power transistors just to name a few all act like a solar cell but the power was so small, but with enough of them it would, we never used a magnifying glass.

Tons of this stuff are tossed out each day

J3S

[ewitte]

I'm easily getting 0.6v out of one of these.? It can be done without the lens.? With amps its a different story.? A lens is definately needed.? With my tiny 1" lens that does not really even heat it up much its still enough for 100x improvement in amps.? Its 3ma versus 0.03ma.? You probably need to heatsink and use a really good fresnal lens for 2w.

Eric

Edit:  an hour later (9:20 am) the sun came up a little bit more.  It was then 0.2ma  without lens versus 40ma with lens. Voltage is up to 0.67V for a single transistor!

[ooandioo]

Thats really interesting. But there is the other problem, linking the transistors together...

-- Andi

[ewitte]

Actually I did some quick tests with a 7x10 inch fresnel lens and its not giving me any more amps.? Its strong enough to easily eat through paper in seconds ? Also basic tests give me over 2W off of a normal solar cell that usually gets 0.5w.? Almost 1A.  Thats not with complete focus.  I'm focusing it so that the amplified light falls on the entire 2x2in or so area. 

Eric

[AbbaRue]

Has anyone tried using a magnifying glass on a calculator solar cell to get a comparison of it's power output.
I've seen solar cell calculators for less then $5 canadian and they usually have 4 solar cells connected in series.
Also was thinking about those canadian tire eliminator solar cells. $35 for a 2.2 watt panel, that's without using a magnifying glass.
With a fresnel lens over top it would be interesting to see what type of output those panels would get.