solar powered glider ,charging circuit?

[chris higdon]

I have a hlg and want to somehow extend the battery duration as a 110 mah pack doesnt last all that long.

I plan on using the solar cells to power the plane in parallel with the battery, so that the battery doesnt discharge, unless the solar cells are in the shade, or for some reason not working, and when the cells are producing power then i want it to power the reciever and charge the battery with any excess power that is available <i dont think that the reciever will draw 5.0v at 300 mah, the output i wired the solar cells for>.

i hope that made sense

So what i need to know is what sort of circuit will i need to put in between the solar cells and the battery <in parallel> to accomplish the needed task

that probably made no sense but i hope you can understand what i mean

[Bruce Abbott]

You should put a diode between the solar cell panel and the battery, to prevent the battery from discharging into the solar panel. Use a schottky diode for lowest voltage drop.

AA Battery Solar Charger (http://www.solorb.com/elect/solarcirc/aacharge/index.html)

[chris higdon]

ok cool just to clarify do you mean like in the attached pic

[Kevin Murray]

That looks like he described. Just test the circut to maks surs there is flow from the solar cell to the battery.
Hook the solar cell to the Rx without the battery, if the Rx powers up the diode is in the right direction.

[Bruce Abbott]

The band on the diode marks its cathode end. Current flows from anode to cathode.

It's hard to determine battery polarity in your diagram, but if the red wire is positive then your diode is backwards. The circuit should be:-

Solar Panel Positive -> Diode Anode -> Diode Cathode (band) -> Battery Positive, and Battery Negative -> Solar Panel Negative.

[chris higdon]

ok cool
i hadnt put much thought into the drawing. I just put the band to show that it was a diode, because i couldnt remember which end was the anode

[aeajr]

It would be a lot cheaper and easier to put in a larger capacity battery. Perhaps not as interesting though.

What kind of battery pack are you using now?

NICD
NIMH
LIPO?
????