Do these Solar Projects actually work?

I recently came across these DIY solar projects. They claim to help you generate solar power in your backyard. I'm quite skeptical about these sort of things. Do they actually work as I don't think a small project like this could even power one room of my house.

https://colorviewfinder.co/solar-switch/

by charliejackson
July 13, 2022

This is full of sales pitch and praise for the system but almost nothing on ratings. The little bit on watts ratings speaks of 35W and 125W but keep in mind that it takes 1800W on my toaster to make a slice of toast. In addition the derivations based on watts are absolute nonsense--there are no such units such as watts per hour and amps per hour.

by Foxx
July 14, 2022

Just doing some checking and found my toaster is 1200W, not 1800 but the argument stays the same. Also checked on a solar panel 29cm square which I use for experimenting and found that it is rated 15Volts open circuit and 324ma short circuit current. This is the sort of thing you are dealing with in solar power. If you want to do anything significant for home power you need a roof full of solar panels and a lot of care in connected load plus a substantial battery.

by Foxx
July 15, 2022

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