Make: Volume 82

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to connect a

solar panel to your phone so that you never

run out of power. There are lots of variations of

this circuit, so make sure to verify your phone’s

capabilities and ports, and your solar panel specs,

before beginning.

1. SET UP THE CHARGING CABLE

First, cut the existing connector off the solar

panel and place it on the back of the phone case

to get the right position. Measure and cut the

wire so that it can be plugged in, but doesn’t have

much extra slack. Put the heat-shrink tube on,

and solder the red and black wires to the USB

connector (Figure

M

). Heat the tubing so that the

USB circuitry is ...