[Elecraft] OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

[Mark Goldberg]

Contact my friend Harry at h.niedecken at wirlnet.com (
https://squareup.com/store/wirlnet-com). He builds larger systems, but may
have a smaller one too. In any case, he knows the lay of the land and what
is good and what is not. Tell him I sent you.

I use 12V LiFePO4s which keep the voltage up (>12V) much longer than Lead
Acid and weigh less. I've got them in sizes from 3 Ah for backpacking with
my KX3 to 400 Ah in our RV running my KX3 and a big inverter for my KPA500.
Morningstar has a bang bang mode on some solar controllers that don't
output much RFI.

73,

Mark
W7MLG

On Sat, Jan 4, 2020 at 3:24 PM Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:

> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light
> backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use
> of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB
> chargers works great when the sun is shining.
>
> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off
> for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
>
> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery
> pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without
> intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous
> charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the
> PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V
> minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.
>
> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd
> prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and
> reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?
>
> tnx
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
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