On 11/5/2009 8:48 AM D Yuniskis spake thus:

Bob F wrote:

D Yuniskis wrote:

I've rescued several small PV panels along with a pair
of gel-cels from an electric wheelchair that still have
useful life. I'd like to put together a charge controller
to run the irrigation pump "for free".

Any pointers to suitable designs? The PVs are small
so Isc is on the order of 100-200mA (though I may
double that)

What is the power requirement of the "irrigation pump"? The pumps I've used
wouldn't run long off of a couple wheelchair batteries.

I'm harvesting rainwater. So, I only need to move a few hundred
gallons at a time (i.e., I'm not watering an orchard! : ).
I'm more concerned with restoring the level of charge in the
batteries quickly enough with these tiny little PV's...

Did you check out that Harbor Freight link I gave earlier? Hell, for as
cheap as they are, you could get one of their smaller solar battery
charger kits, with controller, and just add your panels to theirs for
more power.


--
Who needs a junta or a dictatorship when you have a Congress
blowing Wall Street, using the media as a condom?

- harvested from Usenet