Wattage adder: Difference between revisions
(Created page with "A wattage adder is an electronic circuit that can combine power from multiple sources, including ones that are intermittant & unreliable. Each source might also have a different voltage & current rating. ==Potential applications== * Robust solar panels: If one cell fails{{x|such as due to age; or due to manufacturing defects. The latter is especially important: If we want solar to be widespread enough to replace fossil fuels, then factories have to produce an rooftop...") |
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A wattage adder | [[Category:Unconfirmed ideas]] | ||
A '''wattage adder''' would be an electronic circuit that can combine power from multiple sources, including ones that are intermittent & unreliable. Each source might also have a different voltage & current rating. | |||
==Potential applications== | ==Potential applications== | ||
* Robust solar panels: If one cell fails{{x|such as due to age; or due to manufacturing defects. The latter is especially important: If we want solar to be widespread enough to replace fossil fuels, then factories have to produce an [[rooftop solar|extraordinary amount]] of solar panels. They would have to be made quite cheaply - even in a non-capitalist world, they would still have to be "cheap" in terms of energy & labor per panel.}}, this won't affect the performance of any other cells. | * Robust [[solar panels]]: If one cell fails{{x|such as due to age; or due to manufacturing defects. The latter is especially important: If we want solar to be widespread enough to replace fossil fuels, then factories have to produce an [[rooftop solar|extraordinary amount]] of solar panels. They would have to be made quite cheaply - even in a non-capitalist world, they would still have to be "cheap" in terms of energy & labor per panel.}}, this won't affect the performance of any other cells. | ||
* [[Building ebikes from used vape batteries]], which may vary in size and chemistry. | * Stationary [[energy storage]] made by repurposing old [[EV]] batteries (each of which may have a different energy capacity). | ||
* Building ebikes from [[used vape batteries]], which may vary in size and chemistry. {{npn}} <sup>[safety concerns would need to be addressed]</sup> | |||
==Research needed== | ==Research needed== | ||
This page needs more research: | {{pn|This page needs more research:}}<small> | ||
* Do wattage adder circuits exist yet? Do they maybe go by a different name? | * Do wattage adder circuits exist yet? Do they maybe go by a different name? | ||
* I would assume that such a circuit must involve a lot of power transistors such as MOSFETs. Would the cost{{x|beyond money, consider the amount of rare metals, energy and labor involved in production}} be reasonable enough for this to be scaleable for green [[energy]] solutions? | * I would assume that such a circuit must involve a lot of power transistors such as MOSFETs. Would the cost{{x|beyond money, consider the amount of rare metals, energy and labor involved in production}} be reasonable enough for this to be scaleable for green [[energy]] solutions? | ||
* What might the circuit look like? | |||
** Maybe a joule thief circuit connected to each cell, which charges one shared capacitor for DC output? And there would need to be some sorta round-robin switching circuit on the cells, to avoid unnecessary power drain when output load is low. Would all of this be efficient enough tho? | |||
** Are there other designs instead, and if so, how would they compare? <sup>[discussion needed]</sup> | |||
</small> | |||
Latest revision as of 04:46, 25 September 2023
A wattage adder would be an electronic circuit that can combine power from multiple sources, including ones that are intermittent & unreliable. Each source might also have a different voltage & current rating.
Potential applications
- Robust solar panels: If one cell fails
(...)( such as due to age; or due to manufacturing defects. The latter is especially important: If we want solar to be widespread enough to replace fossil fuels, then factories have to produce an extraordinary amount of solar panels. They would have to be made quite cheaply - even in a non-capitalist world, they would still have to be "cheap" in terms of energy & labor per panel. ) , this won't affect the performance of any other cells. - Stationary energy storage made by repurposing old EV batteries (each of which may have a different energy capacity).
- Building ebikes from used vape batteries, which may vary in size and chemistry. [new page needed] [safety concerns would need to be addressed]
Research needed
This page needs more research:
- Do wattage adder circuits exist yet? Do they maybe go by a different name?
- I would assume that such a circuit must involve a lot of power transistors such as MOSFETs. Would the cost
(...)( beyond money, consider the amount of rare metals, energy and labor involved in production ) be reasonable enough for this to be scaleable for green energy solutions? - What might the circuit look like?
- Maybe a joule thief circuit connected to each cell, which charges one shared capacitor for DC output? And there would need to be some sorta round-robin switching circuit on the cells, to avoid unnecessary power drain when output load is low. Would all of this be efficient enough tho?
- Are there other designs instead, and if so, how would they compare? [discussion needed]