I was wondering how charge pump circuits and buck/boost modules work. I have a buck/boost module i purchased on ebay, and by hooking up a multimeter to the output, I can verify that from 5V in, i can get get more than 5V out.
Does this mean that i can hook up a solar cell to the input, boost it to 30V, and power a lawnmower? I'm guessing not because even though it is providing a higher voltage, its not boosting current.
So that leads me to wondering if there are similar devices to boost current. Perhaps something like a step-up transformer?
Is there perhaps any other way of boosting the output of a small solar cell so that it can power a lawnmower? a daisy chain of 100 transistors, each "gaining" the previous transistor's output?
I looked up passive amplification but i couldn't find a "passive amplification for dummies" article to make understanding it easier.
Any insights that could be provided would be much appreciated. They'd give me some new leads to work with for learning about electricity/circuits. Thanks in advance!
If you put in 3.3v @ 1A, you can’t get more than 3.3 watts out. If you manage to step up to 33v, you will only see a maximum of 100mA. In reality you will see less due to efficiencies.
Thanks birdmun and 6677 for the information and examples. So is that what a buck boost regulator really does? So its not the miracle device i thought it was, but still useful for my variable atx power supply. Thanks again!
How about a step-up transformer? From the looks of it, it may very well be the magic device that can take almost nothing and make it into something. From what i know of a step down transformer, a larger coil generates a pulsating (AC) field as current passes through it. Then a smaller coil picks up what it can of the pulsating field and then that output is certain steps-down of the original larger coil’s current. So perhaps a step up transformer can be used to “up” the current of one lowly small solar cell?
And on a side note, and back to lawn mowers again…regarding the pull-start mechanism of some gas powered mowers, what’s the name of that type of gear that lets a person pull the cord and the gear is engaged, but then when the person releases the cord tension and lets it retract, the starter-motor-gear is not engaged?
I remember the old I remember the old electronic flashes that required more power than the batteries could give when needed.
They seemed to have a circuit that stored power until enough was reached and then it stored it until the flash was needed, it made an annoying whine while it was charging also.
A way would be to raise the voltage from the cell to slightly higher than the battery to charge it, and when the battery is full enough to provide the needed current the motors. Time is another part in the equation; do conversions fast and there’s more waste as heat, do real slowly and it can be more efficient.And there also fixed costs like entropy, so a slow transaction may just produce a little heat and nothing else.5v * 0.5A * 160s = 20v * 2A * 10s , so every 3minutes you can have 10sec of lawn moving.
