I would like to connect a solar panel to a small fan. I am not sure as to what is needed to actually quot;connectthe two together. Any help is appreciated.
If your fan uses a tiny motor like in a cell phone vibrator, you might be able to use just a few solar cells. Otherwise, you might find the voltage and current from a pre-assembled panel, and get a fan that uses less power. You will then likely need electronics to match the two up, and maybe a battery to keep it going when the sun goes down.
Solar panel hooked to a battery or two then to a small inverter then to your 20 volt fan ....... Or .... Solar panel to 2 volt battery wired to a 2 volt fan. I use both
Wire is always good. You may need some electronics to convert the voltage put out by the solar panel to what is required by the fan. Some batteries might be nice so that the fan will run when the sun is not shining.
Panels are rated nominally, and you can look at your fan to see what the ratings for the fam are to determine sizing of the panel. Current multiplied by the volts (rated) gives you the wattage of the motor- just use this as a guide for sizing the panel. You do want a little more power from the panel than the motor draws for purposes of starting the motor and for having the fan operate at lower sun angles as well. You can add a battery if you chose, but it is not a requirement. Just treat the leads of the panel like those of a battery red (+) and black (-) just connect those to the fan, if you match color for color, no problem. If the markings are not present and no wires are on the fan, try it one way, if it is the wrong way- reverse them. AC operated fans will require an inverter to convert the DC to AC. These draw a certain amount of power as well. In general the same rules of thumb apply. It is just easier though to stick with a DC motor.
