Solar battery charger

Discussion in 'OnBoard Electronics & Controls' started by Vulkyn, May 28, 2017.

  1. Vulkyn
    Joined: Jun 2010
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    Vulkyn Senior Member

    :D Thats not cheating ! its re-organization of input parameters to get a better orientation to my results !

    If the panel is left stationary 20-30 degree I will be getting the maximum sun / day with out going into single axis movement systems (i will be in the 80-90 % range). THis is what solar panel companies do when they want maximum exposure on bigger system (never flat.) - Pic attached.
    I havent setup mine this way yet but i did leave it for sun exposure should be back in 2 weeks to see

    Well the pyramids had a huge golden tip that was rumured to reflect sun any were ...... find out who nicked it and we might just have a deal :D
     

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  2. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    That is true, but having a solar panel on a sailing boat, your fixed angle means that you cannot turn too much with your boat and have to sail backwards to make it work as you intended. If you only use your panel stationary, yes then you are totally correct, that would be for Egypt the approx. best angle. Just a joke Vulkyn that you where cheating, my apology. Bert
     
  3. Vulkyn
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    Vulkyn Senior Member

    Joke well read and made me laugh ..... it's my rather awkward sense of humor at play (you should see my other threads ..... i have dialed my "sense of humor" down considerably as I am usually not understood nor funny) please forgive my "Egyptian humor" its an acquired taste lol.

    You are totally right regarding boat i had the stationary installation in mind for when i leave the battery for extended periods I come back and its ready to go (i bought a conventional car battery because its 1/4 of the price of marine batteries in Egypt so even with the solution im 1/2 off the price.)

    Now a friend has told me he has a marine wind turbine lying around, so i will get some pics or pick it up today and if the size is suitable then i will be a very happy panda and fit that on the boat keep the panel at the house.
    Will have to do some digging in regards to hooking that up once i get the specs information.

    Bertku thank you very much for your responses and questions it has given me a lot of information please keep them coming (and your jokes as well :D)
     
  4. hoytedow
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    The plates on a car battery are too thin and repeated deep discharge will quickly ruin it. Deep cycle batteries only can take the hard duty discharging and recharging. You will spend more replacing car batteries than the deep cycle battery would have cost. Gold caps are expensive! :(
     
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  5. Vulkyn
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    Vulkyn Senior Member

    Yah thats the trick keep it always full like running on a car Dynamo :D well in all cases thats plan !
    Well i am more than happy to have reached where i am now even if i finally decide to get a deep cycle battery, what i learned was well worth the money and time ....

    You know me hoyte always the leaning path hehe :D
     
  6. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    I am pleased that some people on the forum has a sense of humour. This is much appreciated. You see, I have my 10 watt ( also nearly 1 Ampere) solar panel constantly charging one of my central electronics for the motor, separate 12 Volt battery via a normal self made charger. But have mount it horizontal. The circuit you will find on "simple solar charge design question" page 4 , thread no #46 . In this way I am always sure, that my electronics I need for my brush less motors is always 100% full. Regardless whether my motor batteries are empty or half empty or full, 12 Volt, 24 Volt or 36 volt connection. I assumed you also would have it mounted permanently. I hope one day to visit Egypt. Before all the troubles started in Egypt, long time ago, we had already booked to fly via Egypt to Amsterdam, but we cancelled the booking. This year I fly direct from Cape Town to Gatwick (London Airport UK), no chance to change, as it is already paid in February this year. Pity. Have a good time and all the best. Bert
     
  7. Vulkyn
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    Vulkyn Senior Member

    Egypt is one of the best places to visit for vacation but not to live in. Would have been awesome if you could pass by maybe we could go fishing one day :)

    Had a look very interesting design, I am unfortunately not an engineer so my knowledge is very limited regarding circuits but the charge controller i got does essentially that it detects night mode and stops battery discharging.

    Have a question though, If i am to fit a permeant solar panel and have only one battery in the boat, how would i connect the charge controller to the battery (which will also be connected to alternator) with out damaging anything?

    Unfortunately my friend had a very old wind anemometer (which he tried to sell me along with various underwater measuring tools probably made in the 1990) which is essentially old junk he got rid off. Got them all for free but have no idea what they are and if they would ever work ...
    Will probably start another thread and see if i can get any

    Was quite excited to try a wind generator on my boat so maybe one day will get a small would be far more effective on my boat (we also have very high wind around 10 m/s).
     
  8. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

  9. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    Vulkyn, I can only explain how to connect the little charger I made, with the battery and alternator. It is too late now to make a lot of noise from my scanner and printer. My wife has gone to sleep already. But I will make a drawing tomorrow and scan it in. Basically the alternator is the same as a solar panel. In the sense that both via a diode will be connected to the charger and the charger is connected to the battery. Thus if the voltage of the alternator is higher than the solar panel and there is a diode to the solar panel preventing the alternator feeding the solar panel and visa versa. The alternator feed and charge the battery, when the battery is half full. If the Alternator is no longer running and the solar panel voltage is higher than the battery voltage, the solar panel automatically will charge via the charger the battery. If the voltages from both, alternator and solar panel is lower than the battery, the diodes prevent the battery from discharging into the alternator and solar panel. Thus that make sense? But tomorrow I will make a drawing. Bear in mind, I can only do it with my little charger as I have no clue whether your alternator or charger has preventative diodes built in.
    Yes you are right, Egypt is beautiful for holidaymakers and I love to see it one day. Bert
    Gonzo, nice little meters you suggested.
     
  10. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    Having a good night sleep, I have had a look at your problem again. The problem is that your alternator has normally its own voltage regulator build in and thus you have to have the alternator straight on the battery, But you have to find out whether there is a blocking diode in your alternator. If not you need to place a Schottky diode greater than the alternator current can deliver i.e. if your battery is 60 Amperehour and your alternator a 55 Ampere type, you need a schottky diode of at least 55 Ampere, but I would have taken a 80 Ampere or 100 Ampere schottky diode. Whether your alternator performs optimum, depends on the voltage drop over the schottky diode. I The rest is as per my drawing from the other thread. I would use a switch. Bert
     
  11. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    I had a look at my notes from 40 years ago . The AC alternator has normally 6 diodes to make AC into DC. The voltage regulator drives the coil for regulation the output voltage/current. Thus I would place the alternator directly on the battery permanently. If your motorcar is switched off, your battery also does not discharge over the alternator. The rest as per my drawing. Bert
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2017
  12. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    Here is the drawing.
     

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  13. Vulkyn
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    Vulkyn Senior Member

    ok so first thanks a lot man for the effort ! And wise call on keeping wife sleeping .... happy wife happy life !!

    Ok so this makes as much sense as nuclear physics .... so will try to translate that into a version my rather strange brain can comprehend ..

    Diode are one way gates that wount allow back flow of electricity ? My solar panels dont seem to have them but i know the charge controller does it also has a +/- socket that enables me to pull load directly from solar panel (and in theory should pull from battery if at night?? )

    So essentially it will prevent back feed from the battery into itself or the panels. Now if the the alternator has the same would that mean both can connect directly and not have any issues ? or will both try to charge the battery at the same time and overcharge it?....

    Not sure what he link Gonzo sent is, its measures only right ? has no regulation of any type.

    I do apologies for the questions but this is my first time so please be gentle :D :D
     
  14. BertKu
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    BertKu Senior Member

    Thank you for the suggestion
    Sit down, take a deep breath and suddenly it become all clear, just think logical , like : if a motorcar or motorbike or truck stops , what will it tell you. the alternator is still connected to the battery. CORRECT? , yes it is correct. Thus your battery does not empty itself into the alternator. CORRECT , yes it is correct. Your key only switch the relay on which let the starter motor start the engine and if switched off, it only ensures that critical relays are not switched on. Thus you can safely say that you can connect the alternator to your battery, whether your engine is running or stopped.
    correct
    Fine, that is good news
    Cannot say yes or no, I must see the circuit diagram

    Yes you may connect the charger and the alternator, regardless whether the engine runs or not. If it runs, you will get 14,4 Volt from the alternator to the battery and then when battery is full, the alternator will reduce the current to the battery to zero. So should the charger sense that the battery is full and should also switch off.
    Yes the one or maybe even both , or the other may charge the battery until fully charged, but then both should switch off or reduce the current to a trickle charge of milli Amperes. But it should not overcharge the battery. The best way to convince yourself is to place the Ampere meter between plus battery and the connection to both , alternator plus and charger battery connection plus. If the ampere meter shows more than 10 milliAmpere by 13,6 volt battery voltage, you have a problem with one of the two, alternator voltage regulator and solar panel control charger [/QUOTE]

    Don't worry we all had to learn.
     

  15. Vulkyn
    Joined: Jun 2010
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    Vulkyn Senior Member

    Fantastic Bertku thank you.

    I have attached the specification sheet of my charge controller (HP2410 - 10 Amp version).
    The load connectors enables you to have electricity directly for devices (Load & USB), had originally hooked up a USB plug to that for testing but I didnt keep it as this was meant for house / and mobile charging rather than fixed on boat (pic attached).

    What i will do if that work is a get a waterproof charger, fit a slightly more efficient / bigger PV panel at the bow, run cables to back of boat to controller and then directly from those to the battery.
    This way i can keep batteries hooked up and topped off with out moving them around from my house to boat (or get a small wind turbine)
     

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