Solar Powered Nintendo DS

Now this is something for everyone! Techno geeks — those in the know who are way smarter than I — have come up with a way to make the Nintendo DS battery charge with solar power. What a great way to teach the kids about the advantages of using the sun’s rays over electricity. Not to mention a fun project for daddy to play with his soldering tools and the ideal solution to moms everywhere who are weary of hearing those nagging words: “Mommmmmm, my DS is dead and I can’t find my charger!”

For those of you who are childless or otherwise out of the loop, the Nintendo DS is one of the most popular handheld video gaming systems for kids today – in fact I even know a few parents who have bought one for themselves just to keep up with the fun.

Photo Credit: azsustainability.com

The devices are rectangular in shape and consist of two components that hinge together, so that when you open it up you have a rectangular screen on top and one on the bottom: picture a miniature laptop with a second screen where your keyboard would be.

Some genius has discovered that the DS screens are the perfect size and shape for two small solar cell panels and has configured a way that the above-average consumer can buy four of these cells and rig them up to the DS’s rechargeable battery (a battery that typically has to be recharged with an electric wall or car charger).

I’m not going to get into all the particulars here (it’s a fairly lengthy list of instructions), but the gist of it is that you take the four cells and solder wires between them and the DS battery and install the cells to the outer cover of the DS on the top and bottom components. Whenever the battery needs charging, you just open the DS and lay it flat on a surface (screens down, solar cells up) that is in the sunshine — like your window — and allow the cells to charge the battery.

There is just one drawback to the solar power DS plan: the solar cells don’t have enough power to enable you to use the DS while charging with solar panels, but it will charge the battery slowly while the game is out of use. The official Nintendo website is keeping suspiciously mum about solar power for their devices, so I’m sure you’ll void all warranties by doing this, but it sounds great to me!

Posted on May 8th in Solar Products by Jennifer.