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SparkFun

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The BPW34 is a tiny, general purpose PiN photodiode. This photodiode has a ton of uses, one of which is to use it is a mini solar cell to power your project....

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The BPW34 is a tiny, general purpose PiN photodiode. This photodiode has a ton of uses, one of which is to use it is a mini solar cell to power your project. The cell is sensitive to a wide range of light wavelengths (430-1100nm), so it should produce power in a number of different settings. The rated open circuit voltage is 350mV (900nm, 1mW/cm2 light source), and short circuit current is 47μA.
These are fun (of course)!****We shined a 940nm infrared LED on one of them and it produced about 0.5VDC open circuit voltage. Stringing four together in series, we were able to turn an LED on with them. They’ll also produce a small voltage, ~250mV, in a brightly, fluorescent-lit room.

Jargon buster

Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.

LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.
photodiode
A photodiode is a light-sensitive component that produces a small electrical signal, a current or voltage, when light falls on it. When a sensor uses several photodiodes, each can be tuned to a different part of the spectrum so the chip can measure several wavelength bands separately.

BPW34 Miniature Solar Cell Datasheet

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Supplier page — sparkfun.com

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Related Tutorials

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