Just because you are living off the grid, does not mean that you should completely cut yourself from what is going on in the world around you. Here is a nice little diy solar powered radio, you can build and use on your homestead. Also perfect for camping or emergency situations.

This project is going to cost you way less, if you already have access to a small battery powered radio and those solar garden lights. You will also need a few basic tools to help you convert the radio into solar powered appliance. Total time to build is just about 2 hours.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• portable small radio
• garden solar light.
• BAT43 Schottky diode or Silicone IN4001
• soldering iron
• solder
• red and black electric wire
• rechargeable batteries
• heat shrink sleeve
• adhesive foam strip
• screw driver

The first step is to remove the solar panel from the garden light. It is just a matter of removing the clear plastic lens and metal rim from the garden light, then carefully cutting the connector wire. Next you want to solder on the blocking diode to the positive side of the panel.

You can also hard wire your solar panel to the back of your radio, if you want. This is done by soldering the black and red wire to the battery connections. Screw back the back cover, place your batteries into the radio. The radio works well on a sunny window sill or you can place it outside in the sun for a few hours to recharge the batteries.

You can follow step by step instructions on the Got Wind blog, here…

DIY Solar Powered Radio Plans

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