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Solar Powered Camping Kit Questions

Danoroth

Dec 9, 2014
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Hi all, Daniel here. I am extremely new to these forums (About 1 minute old). I love camping, and the outdoors, and living in Australia gives me many opportunities of this. I am planning on going camping quite often during the next few years. I am looking to invest in a portable Solar power kit for taking along. So far, looking online I have found this solar panel, which looks promising: http://goo.gl/2yglvz
I am not too knowledgeable about electronics, but I saw on some eBay items, that they need a regulator for the battery, now I assume this is a current regulator, that makes the battery control the amount of electricity, instead of Causing a fire or something along the lines of that. Anyway, what I would like to know is; if I will need a regulator with this kit, if so what one would YOU recommend? I am looking to get at least a 100AH battery, so also; if you could recommend a battery, that would be great. Cheers mates!
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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Welcome to electronicspoint, Daniel.

This panel includes a controller. You should ask the seller about the properties or for a datssheet of the controller.
 

Danoroth

Dec 9, 2014
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Welcome to electronicspoint, Daniel.

This panel includes a controller. You should ask the seller about the properties or for a datssheet of the controller.
Okay great, so I will be asking what the maximum battery Amp can be?
 

Harald Kapp

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Okay great, so I will be asking what the maximum battery Amp can be?
No, that's not what I thought of. According toe the description the controller is a MPPT (Maximum PowerPointTracking) controller, which means that it adjusts the current drawn from the panel in such a way that the panel is opearted in teh point of maximum power (V*I) of its characteristic.
This doesn't tell you, however, what the output parameters (voltage, current) of the controller are.
You need to know what the controller delivers at its output (voltage, current). Maybe it is even already made to charge 12V batteries? (Although I doubt this.)

Once you know these parametes you can go looking for a suitable battery charger. Your panel is nominal 12V/120W which translates into a current of 10A max. A 100Ah battery will need approx. 12-14 hours to be fully charged by 10A. If you don't have that much sunshine, use a smaller battery. You will be better off using a small battery that is fully charged than using a big battery that is only halfways charged.
When hunting for a battery charge you need to look out for one that accepts the output voltage of the panel's controller to charge a battery. A typical lead-acid battery's voltage will rise up to 14.xV when charged. The charge controller needs to be able to step-up the 12V from the panel to this voltage, otherwise it will not be able to charge the battery.

Ask the seller of the panel for a recommendation.
 
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