Make Sure Your Game Boy Pocket Never Runs Out of Battery with This Solar Power Modification

The problem with the Game Boy Pocket

People who grew up in the '80s and '90s will have almost certainly heard of the Game Boy lineup of handheld consoles. In particular, the Game Boy Pocket was a system released in 1996 that featured a crisp black-and-white display and came in a smaller form factor for better portability. However, its par of AAA batteries compared to the four AA batteries of the original Game Boy meant players would go through many in a short amount of time.

This glaring issue with the Pocket system inspired one maker at the Houston Museum of Natural Science to create a custom version that has both a rechargeable battery and a solar panel.

Gathering some components

The first part of the build process was gathering the required components. It began with sourcing the battery, which was a simple LiPo cell that outputs current at 3.7V and has a total capacity of 1000mAh, or enough to run the handheld console for between seven to twelve hours. Next, the battery receives current from a USB C charge controller that also handles the outgoing power from the battery and sends it to the Game Boy Pocket when not charging. But the system doesn't have to rely solely on a USB power source, as a large-ish (relatively speaking) solar panel outputs 5V and up to 150mA of current at its peak to passively charge the console while it is not being used. And finally, the project's creator swapped out the stock LCD for a brighter, modern, and backlit IPS panel for a much better viewing experience.

Finding space for everything

Modifying the game system took around an hour to complete. Starting with the battery compartment, a rotary cutting tool was used to get rid of the separating wall and make space for the LiPo battery cell. After some trial and error, it finally fit together, which meant the solar panel could be glued onto the back and have its wiring run to the charge controller. And finally, a 1A/20V Schottky diode was soldered across the solar panel's terminals to prevent current from feeding back and damaging it. A small amount of kapton tape was placed over the Game Boy's circuitry to stop short circuits from occurring between the solder joints on the PCB and the modded components.

Results

The changes done to the Game Boy Pocket system were great at helping to reduce the waste from used AAA batteries and increase the lifespan of the device. With the addition of the brighter LCD screen, this console was a joy to use, since it could simply be dropped in a sunlit area to charge up slowly.

Room for improvement

Although the modifications were successfully done, it wasn't perfect. Most obvious were the rough edges where the type-C connector was installed and the space around the solar panel. Also, the solar panel that got chosen for this project takes a long time to charge the battery, as one hour of solar charging under ideal conditions only gives about two hours of playtime.

But overall, the modifications made to this Game Boy Pocket were quite beneficial, and you can see how they were made in greater detail here on YouTube.