On Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:04:46 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
news

Not with a whopping 45 watts of solar power, ah sho hain't.
I'd need a battery bank and lots more solar panels for that.

If it's the HF 45W kit you'll be lucky to get much over 30 watts from
it for long. 3*0.8A = 2.4A. That's 28.8W into a 12.0V battery, which
is about what they drop to after only a short discharge. The extra ~2V
voltage needed to charge them is wasted.

It charged up the battery quickly today. I had been playing with the
LED lights quite a bit for several months without a charge. The
panels were putting out 15+V during thick cloud cover. That made me
happy. I guess it's time to pick apart the HF charge controller and
figure out what it will take to fix it when (not if) it breaks. Got
any suggestion for inexpensive replacements? I keep reading that the
cheap digital controllers (from everyone Chiwanese) are junk and
constantly breaking.

Now that the platform is built and the panels are installed, the
battery platform in and boxed, it's time to play Sparky in the attic.
It's a good thing I wake at 4am...


The panels put out a relatively constant current that doesn't vary
much with the load voltage. Look at the rating sticker on the back.
The charging voltage at the battery won't go above 14.4V where the
controller cuts off to avoid slowly killing an unused battery. Mine
turns back on at 13.2V.

An ammeter such as this:

http://www.amazon.com/85C1-A-Analog-...rds=ammeter+5a

with in and out plugs is very helpful when you are setting up the
panels, and to monitor the current indoors afterwards. 5A is enough to
add a panel or two if they go on sale. I used 2-pin molded trailer
connectors between the panels and controller but Andersons might have
been better.

_AN_alog? (rolls eyes Sounds like a plan.


http://www.amazon.com/Anderson-Power...rson+connector

I put Andersons on the load side and didn't want to risk
cross-connecting them.

That's what I used on the back of my truck for the little winch
connections. $16 for the pair of 40A plastic housings/couplers + 4
terminals. They work pretty well. This is a much better price:
http://tinyurl.com/lmjs9ys

--
In reality, serendipity accounts for one percent of the blessings
we receive in life, work and love. The other 99 percent is due to
our efforts.
-- Peter McWilliams