Ok this is probably a stupid question but I got this cool Disney Frozen cardboard stand of Olaf and his head is meant to sway side to side but his head is powered by a tiny solar panel from the back of the stand.
Surely, something like this would have been powered by a battery but there's no way I'm leaving it outside. Can a light globe be able to power it up?
Or maybe place it next to a window? Or does it have to be under direct sunlight?
Are you sure it's 12V? I would double-check if unsure. A "tiny solar panel" doesn't sound like it'll be 12V.
The tiny solar panel is approximately the same size as the ones you find on calculators
Oh that'll be around 1.5-2V at a very low current. A 12V supply or 9V battery will destroy it in an instant. You should be able to use a single AA/AAA/C/D cell though.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/10Pcs-9V-Battery-Holder-Clip-Snap…
^ if you know anyone who does any type of electronics work. they will have that. its cheap
you need to determine the typical output voltage of the solar panel (eg, with a multimeter), otherwise you can easily destroy your toy with a battery voltage that is too high.
Can a light globe be able to power it up? Or maybe place it next to a window? Or does it have to be under direct sunlight?
quite likely it will work from the power of a light bulb. certainly it should work from direct sunlight through a window. you have to try it and see.
Any light source will power it, a night light behind the stand, put it in front of a window, use a torch, table lamp.
The light source just has to be sufficient to create enough current to power the motor or whatever makes the head sway.
Given how inefficient those cheap calculator solar panels are, it probably only produces a fraction of a volt, maybe only a few watts of power.
You should be able to hook up a cheap battery to it, and even then that's probably more than enough power to juice the motor. Its probably a waste of a good battery though, I would just place it near a window and use some foil paper to make a parabolic mirror to increase efficiency.
I'm quite sure it's around 1.5V at a few hundred microamps. A few watts from a small panel would be amazing.
The good thing is, a good AA alkaline battery will last years with that kind of current draw. A Varta AA is only 29.9c each from bunnings in packs of 30 anyway.
it will need 1.21 gigawatts.
Sit it under a table lamp or on the window ledge and it will work.
if you can be bothered fixing a 12v power source to it, it will work just find the + and - wires for the panel