If you're willing to pry apart your e-book reader — maybe you got it for cheap, or maybe you're just a super-hacker — you can tweak it so it runs on solar power.

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If you can't even pronounce "solder," or if you don't know what the following things are:

  • Schottky diode
  • MAX1551 or MAX1555 IC
  • SOT23 to DIP breakout board

then you are probably not going to be able to pull this one off. If you're tech-savvy, though, it's a relatively simple procedure: Cut a hole in the back of the case for the solar panels, install them, wire them to the battery. You just want to follow each of those things very … very … carefully. Luckily, an Instructables user has posted detailed instructions.

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