[Elecraft] Solar panel question

Sun Feb 23 17:04:01 2003

Where can someone get reasonable inexpensive solar panels nowadays?
I know that there are plenty of various units available.  I'd like to find something
capable of supplying 25-35 watts of power for battery charging.  There used
to be a lot of "second" units and used units available from the oilfield in the
Gulf of Mexico in this area, but they seemed to have dried up.

73,
Sandy W5TVW
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Brown" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2003 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Solar panel question

| Hi
| 
| You can connect the panels in parallel although it may be a good idea to use
| a blocking diode so if one panel is in the shade the panel in the sun does
| not try to force reverse current into the panel. Most panels already have
| this protection diode so it is usually not necessary to add one.
| 
| Dan Kolean sent me some very nice solar panels used to trickle charge the
| batteries on Volkswagens while in shipping. The panels are 3.2 watts and
| have suction cups so they can be stuck to the inside of the windshield of a
| car and then plugged into the cigarette lighter socket to keep the battery
| topped off. The panels are about 12X9 inches and housed in a very rugged
| looking plastic case. The panels do not have a controller and output about
| 18-20 volts open circuit or 170 ma at 13 volts. I believe these panels are
| available on Ebay
| 
| I have one of these panels charging a 2.8 amp hour Powersonic SLA battery
| now through one of my controllers and it looks good. One or two of these
| panels could power a K1 and maybe even a K2. These panels work great with my
| controller and you could parallel as many as you like for more power. The
| controller can handle 200 watts
| 
| This battery (PS-1228) will fit into a EC-1 box with room for the
| controller. This would make a nice portable solar powered rig that matches
| the K1. With the 12 volt battery you could run 5 or more watts with the K1
| as opposed to the internal battery option limit of 3 watts. This battery is
| only .1 amp hour less than the K2 internal battery but is more square so it
| will fit into the EC-1
| 
| I ran a completely solar rig at field day for the last 2 years. I even had a
| picture and write up in the local paper about the solar setup last year. I
| used two 35 watt solar panels and a 35 amp hour SLA battery with one of my
| controllers. This powered my K2/100 at 100 watts out or a TenTec 6n2 meter
| radio with a 160 watt amplifier running about 150 watts. The solar power
| setup worked with no problems for the entire weekend.
| 
| Don Brown
| KD5NDB
| 
| 
| ----- Original Message -----
| From: <[email protected]>
| To: <[email protected]>
| Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2003 10:07 AM
| Subject: [Elecraft] Solar panel question
| 
| 
| > All:
| >
| > I have a solar panel setup for my station running an SX-20 panel
| > charging an AGM battery through one of the (very nice) "DolfinDon"
| > solar charge controllers.  I'm locked and loaded for Field Day
| > already.  As they say, witing is the hardest part...
| >
| > Question:  If I want to add a solar panel to the system to charge the
| > same battery with a bit more "oomph", is it safe to merely place the
| > new panel in parallel with the old one, or is some sort of intervening
| > circuitry necessary?
| >
| > Thanks in advance and 73,
| >
| > Bob  WA4FOM
| > K2 # 2537 ("B" upgraded and not afraid to use it)
| >
| >
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