The Great Big Guide to Paper Circuits
Powering Your Project
Paper circuit projects can be easily powered with a 3V coin cell battery. We recommend a 20mm or 12mm diameter battery for small projects such as greeting cards.
Most common coin cell batteries look like the ones above - the top and sides of the battery are positive and a textured bottom is negative. This can prove tricky for attaching to our traces, so we'll go over a few techniques to try.
You can also find some good examples of battery use and power in this tutorial:
LilyPad Basics: Powering Your Project
September 24, 2018
Create Your Own Battery Holder
Making a battery holder with the materials you have on hand is quick and easy! Here are a few different methods for crafting your own battery holder.
Copper Tape Holder:
![Copper Tape Battery Holder Open](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/learn_tutorials/3/1/8/CopperTapeBattery1.jpg)
![Copper Tape Battery Holder Closed](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/learn_tutorials/3/1/8/CopperTapeBattery2.jpg)
![Copper Tape Battery Holder Example](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/learn_tutorials/3/1/8/BatteryFlap.jpg)
Paper and Copper Tape Holder:
Chibitronics has a tutorial on using copper tape and a piece of paper to make a battery pouch.
Paper and Conductive Paint Holder:
Bare Conductive has a few different paper battery holder tutorials:
Battery Holder Modules
Battery holder modules can be soldered onto copper tape or glued with conductive glue or paint. Always remember to remove the battery from the holder before soldering.
Tabbed Batteries
You can also purchase batteries with solder tabs - these can then be soldered, glued with conductive glue, or sometimes even pressed in place with clear tape to attach to a circuit. When shopping for a tabbed battery, try to find one with insulation around the sides to avoid accidental shorts.