Aha !  I've been down this route and enjoyed it immensely. Yep, diodes do it, a cut open old metal type 2N3055 and such will also do it. EPROMs from 1970's test equipment or old arcade games are particularly good. I have 2 sets of 2 EPROMs on my kitchen window sill, that power blocking oscillators with LEDs on. They've run for a year now and look a bit different...work great. A large 60x 1N4148 panel didn't quite do what I expected. It topped out at about 16V and the current was mere uA. But it did work, all in series. Looking at Matts post, that's about the finding, but only ever tried it with the 1N4148 type. Apparently, leaving a diode perfectly still for about a year allows it to 'bring in' some surprising voltage and current. Presumably the test leads are soldered on and taped down etc. Never tried it and i've no idea of the source now to link to. Related, in a way are LEDs and their power generating. Greens seem to work best, typically bringing in 2V and, I think, 100uA or so. Enough to drive the same sort of oscillator anyway (Lidmotor Penny type of circuit). Another thing is to heat LEDs while they are in the sun. The power throughput goes up.
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Topic: Photosensitive Zener diodes (Read 7254 times)
