Hi All,

Power went out last night due to snowstorm Alfred, so while tinkering by candle light I built this little setup.

It consists of four 4.5vdc,20ma solar cells wired in series and a candle in the middle. The holders were just made by taking  straight wire bending in the middle and then bending the tops and bottoms. It's a pretty messy setup but it was quick to make.

It puts out 6.6vdc and only 2ma of current enough to trickle charge a cap. Bad efficiency compared to direct sunlight but if you don't have the sun it's still usable power. More candles and higher current panels would help. I did get it up to 11volts by burning a piece of newspaper over it.

This could be easily scaled up. If you have a open hearth fireplace you could get a bigger solar panel 5 to 50 watt panel and generate power to trickle charge batteries during a snowstorm. Even an outdoor fire pit should work in an emergency. Just make sure you don't cook the panels.