[Elecraft] Solar Panel Charging

[Don Brown]

Hi

That depends on the size battery you are going to charge. The VW panels were 
designed to trickle charge a car battery and will output up to about 170 ma. 
This current is low enough that it will not overcharge a 30 to 100 amp hour 
battery even if left on the battery for an extended time. The small 3 to 10 
amp hour batteries is a different story. The solar panel can supply 18-25 
volts open circuit and may overcharge a small gel cell if left connected too 
long. A gel cell can be damaged if the terminal voltage is allowed to exceed 
14.5 volts for an extended time.

The lowest cost way is to just connect the panel to the battery and monitor 
the battery voltage with a DVM. When the battery voltage reaches 13.8 volts 
disconnect the battery.

You can also use one of my controller kits. The low power kit is only $16 
and is ideal for 1 to 5 VW panels. The controller can handle up to 1.5 amps 
or about 20 watts. 3 to 5 watts is fine for a KX1 or K1 and 10-15 watts is 
good for a QRP K2. A K2/100 needs 60 to 100 watts and a 30-100 amp hour 
battery. This would require my high power controller that can handle up to 
200 watts. The price for this kit is $30. You can order the kits from:

Don Brown
KD5NDB
19132 Falls Creek Drive
Flint, Texas 75762

Check or money order only please

Thanks

Don


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thom R LaCosta" <lacosta at bcpl.net>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 6:06 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Solar Panel Charging


> Just picked up a VW solar panel...is there a low cost, ie other than 
> buying a
> charge controller, to use this to charge a gell cell?
>
> Thanks
>
> Thom
>
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