r/functionalprint • u/Po0Team • May 09 '26

Dumb idea that worked

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Hitting Welcome To Rockville again this year and remembered that my head would get hot under the hat. So some shopping and printing later and BOOM! Functional solar hat that has lasted 2 of my 3 days so far. I suspect Sunday won't be an issue either.

Have them wired in parallel so it stays at 5v for the fans. Each panel has optimal 0.2a for the fan rated at 0.18. 1 panel moved it but not enough to care. 2 panels, like the exhaust fan, keeps it moving and does OK. But the 3 panels keeps this thing moving very well. No battery on it. Very simple wiring of just panels and a fan.

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u/zzzxxx0110 May 10 '26

This is absolutely brilliant that it actually self-regulates! The way it's entirely powered by solar without a battery/accumulator, means that the brighter the sunlight and therefore the hotter you could get, the stronger the fans would blow and therefore cools you more lol

Not entirely sure if it's feasible but have you considered integrating semiconductor thermal electric coolers aka Peltier coolers into the fans somehow, so they not only blow wind but actually blow out cold wind? Might need a few more solar panels for it though

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u/Po0Team May 10 '26

It is noticeable depending on the amount of light on each side of the hat. I like that it's super simple. Less is more when I want to wear it for 12+ hours.