We finally had sunlight in abundance in conjunction with time in abundance. (Today is a state employee holiday.) I had not ordered a deep discharge storage battery, because I wanted to make sure that the rest of the parts that I was going to use for this project were in good working order. I hooked up the solar panel to the inverter (which is claimed to be 5-45W capacity). Then I plugged in a lamp with one of the curly CFL bulbs (since these typically only consume about 23W). Curiously, the lamp just flickered on and off. What?
Then I looked carefully at the back of the panel. I thought (perhaps because of absurd optimism) that this was 15W output solar panel. No, the promised output was 5W. I suppose that I should consider it impressive that it even provided enough current to flicker a 23W CFL.
Anyway, this at least demonstrates that these parts are working, so I guess that I will buy a storage battery. Perhaps I will buy one with a little more capacity, since a 5W panel is going to take a long time to build up much capacity. But this is primarily an experiment; if I can use this to operate LED lights in the telescope garage, then it may make sense to buy a 35W panel, and build up enough charge to run an electric garage door opener (which has pretty substantial peak amperage requirements).
Harbor Freight has a complete solar power system for less than $200.00. Requires battery & inverter, but includes voltage regulator, which has a 12VDC "lighter style" outlet, USB port, etc. It's 45 watts capacity, which I would consider a minimum for practical uses.
ReplyDeleteI already have an inverter and voltage regulator and the solar panel. I am looking for a cheap way to experiment and provide at least some power in the telescope garage.
ReplyDeleteAt $150 for the HF 45 watt system (I don't know the notional list price, but it's always on sale for $150) it's probably cheaper to buy it just for the panels and have a space regulator/charge controller.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, if your existing regulator isn't also a charge controller, it may overcharge batteries, and be worse than nothing.
It is a charge controller -- at least it claims to be.
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