If you can find a solar power bank, order it now. Don’t wait.
If you can find a solar power bank, order it now. Don’t wait.
#RESIST
got a particular one you like?Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
I am casually interested in this because I have a 16x24 yard barn that does not have power, and I do not want to spend the bucks it would take to trench power to it just so I can flip a light switch. I figure with RV LED bulbs I just need some battery power. There might also be some winching options for the truck cap that could be handy.
And I have some stereo gear from a boat that we sold that I might wire in up there by the bonfire. And if we had a perpetually topped of charging station in the barn that would be nice.
So if anybody has the go-to on this I am interested, but this project is down the list a bit.
Not in great detail, but hopefully the following will be helpful about this specific project;
Key Components
Solar panel - Renogy 30-watt
Battery - Power-Sonic 12V 26AH
Charge controller - Genasun GV4
Pelican 1300 case
The solar panel is mounted on a small camera tripod with a ball head. Attach the ball head adapter plate directly to the support rib on the rear of the panel.
Misc. Hardware
I purchased these parts online, pretty standard stuff.
Left to right above;
- 12V female socket for marine bulkhead applications. Accepts "cigarette lighter" male plug. This is used for connecting other chargers, 12V accessories, etc. to the unit.
- Digital voltmeter - to read charge status of battery
- Double-pole/double-throw toggle switch. Center position battery isolated; right position battery connected to solar charge controller only (typical charging); left position battery connected to both solar charge controller and 12V outlet socket (for charging and powering external devices at the same time).
- 12V bulkhead connector like this one. This is used to connect the solar panel to the unit.
- Inline 12V fuse and holder (auto parts store) inside the case
Wiring
No schematic but basic enough to explain;
In the photo above;
(Panel - +) The charge controller input terminals are connected directly to the 12V bulkhead connector that is used to connect the solar panel and feed its output to the charge controller. Once the solar panel is plugged in, its output flows to the charge controller.
(Batt - +) The charge controller negative output terminal is connected directly to the negative post of the battery. The positive terminal is connected to one leg of the right-side terminal of the DPDT switch.
The negative terminal of the 12V socket is also connected directly to the negative post of the battery.
The center (common) terminals of the DPDT switch are connected to the positive post of the battery through the 12V fuse. I actually used two fuses and connected each of the center terminals independently through a fuse.
The positive side of the 12V socket is connected to one leg on each the right side and left side terminals of the DPDT switch.
To describe it another way;
The common center terminals of the DPDT switch are connected to the (+) side of the battery. The right side of the DPDT switch is connected only to the (+) terminal of the charge controller (for battery charging only). The left side of the DPDT switch is connected to both the (+) side of the charge controller and the (+) side of the 12V socket (charge and power socket at the same time).
Once you have the DPDT switch in hand, it's easy to figure this out using a continuity tester.
Additionally, there is a push button switch (momentary only) to connect the voltmeter to the battery to read the charge.
So that's the basic gist of the thing, pretty easy to scale up for greater capacity. There are good online sources for sizing solar panels to storage (battery) capacity, selecting charge controllers, etc. Some of the commercial units ((like the one Rob linked to) have decent battery capacity (20AH) but the tiny solar collector will take a mighty long time to charge it. I can recharge this unit after it's fairly depleted in six to eight hours of sunlight with the 30W collector.
Back to the OP of this thread, charging devices with solar works better using a larger battery as a buffer, and allows charging of devices in the dark.
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.
Last edited by NH Shooter; 03-21-2020 at 12:42 PM.
Is US panic buying creating a lack of availability?
One method might be to order from elsewhere. A quick search shows that Amazon Germany (a random example) has plenty: https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...=1640ADB69Y1PW
Of course, there might be some delays in shipping. (Two holsters I've bought this month from the US have been stuck in New Jersey for about a week - I'd imagine cargo traffic going the other way might be similarly delayed.)
A large or high efficiency solar system may be rocket science, but throwing together a simple one is stone easy. I put up one just for fun a while ago. Mine is a 50W panel, a $12 solar controller from amazon, and a 12V gel cell that's maybe half the size of a small car battery (plus some 12V cigar lighter and usb sockets, and an auto fuse holder, also from amazon). Just a plywood box, not a spiffy pelican case :-).
The 'winch' part makes me think you might want a car sized deep cycle battery and maybe a 100W panel, depending on the locale. I started with a 20W panel and it would barely keep up with the battery self-discharge in the dark of winter (E. Washington, so not all that dark). It had lots of excess power in summer.
I don't use it for anything but charging flashlight batteries, it was just for fun.
I don't think there is really a lot of complexity involved. Size the wires and fuses appropriately and I don't think there is a lot to go wrong.
I got the tool to use the solar specific connectors (??MC4??), but that's not essential.
Amazon has kits with everything you need (panel, controller, wire) except the battery.
(If it's not obvious, this is completely standalone, not connected to the house wiring at all - that would be a different kettle of fish altogether)
Reply With Quote
