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How to Make a Beer Can Cooler that Runs on Solar Power. Use the hot summer sun to keep
your brewskies cool with this beer can cooler. You will need Solar-powered garden lights
Phillips-head screwdriver Wire cutters Wire stripper Voltage meter Soldering materials
Diode USB-powered drink cooler Hot glue gun Styrofoam cooler Pencil Knife and 5v regulator
(optional). Always take extra precautions when working with electricity and sharp objects.
Step 1. Disassemble the garden lights with the screwdriver and carefully remove the solar
panel, which will have 2 wires attached. Using the wire cutters, cut off the ends, and then
remove 1/4 inch of the plastic coating with the wire stripper. Don't cut the wires too
short; it will make them more difficult to use. Step 2. With the solar panel in direct
sunlight, touch the positive probe of the voltage meter to the solar panel’s positive
wire and the negative probe to the negative wire. Check the voltage meter screen to see
if the output is 5 volts. Step 3. If your solar panel doesn't generate 5 volts, add
another solar panel by soldering the positive wire of the first solar panel to the negative
wire of the second one. You can add a 5-volt regulator to ensure that the voltage doesn’t
surpass 5 volts. Step 4. To prevent any electricity from flowing back into the solar panel, solder
a diode to the solar panel’s positive wire. Make sure the diode's stripe faces away from
the panel. Step 5. Cut off the flat end of the USB cord on the USB-powered drink cooler,
exposing its wires. Strip about 1/4 inch of the coating on the red wire and the black
wire, ignoring any other wire colors. Step 6. Solder the red wire of the USB cord to
the positive wire of the solar panel and the black wire to the negative wire to attach
the solar panel, and place the device in direct sunlight to make sure it powers up. Then,
position the solar panel neatly onto the underside of the drink cooler and hot glue it into place.
Step 7. Place the drink cooler on the lid of the Styrofoam cooler so that the cooling
element is facing down. Trace the outline of the drink cooler onto the Styrofoam lid
and cut out the outline. The smaller the Styrofoam cooler, the more effective the results will
be. Step 8. With the solar panels facing up, fit the drink cooler into the lid until half
of it protrudes through the bottom. Then hot glue it into place. Congratulations: You've
got yourself a beer can cooler. Here's to solar power! Did you know On Norway's Svalbard
Islands, the sun never sets from April to August.