Do-It-Yourself Solar-Powered PC: Hardware

Features
By Tom's Hardware News Team
published

Efficiency Is Where It's At

This PC power supply does not come package in an enclosure, so great care is advised during installation and use - it can easily short out and get damaged. That's why we built our own enclosure for the supply, which also gave us a good way to mount a fan for this 12-volt device. We used Plexiglas for its construction, cut into carefully measured pieces and glued together.

Preparing...

...and working on the pieces

Cardboard model

Drilling out the cover

Cutting out the Plexiglas pieces

Assembling the pieces

Circuit board on top of the bottom piece

Mounting the board onto the bottom piece

Cables, cooler and board in the box from below

Cables, cooler and board in the box from above

Tom's Hardware News Team
Tom's Hardware News Team

Tom's Hardware's dedicated news crew consists of both freelancers and staff with decades of experience reporting on the latest developments in CPUs, GPUs, super computing, Raspberry Pis and more.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • Raigedas
    i bought this M2-ATX PSU (actually to of them). but i was unable to start it.

    1. first quick question: is it possible to start (for testing purposes) the PSU without connecting it to the computer? is it enough to short circuit J8 only to start?

    2. docummentation is unclear about 10 (J6). it looks like J6 is purely for controlling stereo amplifier. but other place of the manual says "if J6 is cnnected to the motherboard". where to motherboard?

    3. how should PSU be connected?
    for testing i have taken 12V 7Ah lead acid battery fully charged.
    connected battery "-" to J4.
    battery "+" to J1.
    J3: tried to leave not connected and tried to connect battery "+".
    disconnected power switch cable from motherboard and connected it to J9.
    connected J8 with motheboard (using little cable included in the package) where power switch was originally connected.
    left J6 not connected.
    J10 not connected (P0 mode). also tried P1 mode.
    connected ATX and P4 (J2).
    pressed power on my pc but nothing happened and no voltage on MOLEX cable.

    could authors of the article (or maybe other owner of the PSU) describe how did they start the PSU?
    Reply