solar panels

i just got a solar panel today, planning on using for camping to keep the batteries charged, to run my lights and fridge at night.
but i need a good regulator to bring the voltage down from 36v dc.
just wondering what other are using out there. also needs to be able to handle 230w at least
thanks

What sort of panel have you got to get 230watts? Mine only has 80watt and its bloody huge..

As for regulator just ebay it....

i got one of the damaged panels from work, i work in solar so its a 230 watt German panel 900x1600 in size, but it cost nothin

So that is a nominal 36 volt panel for a house solar installation? Not a Nominal 12 volt panel. Is that correct.

yea that right ive found some stuff online for chargers with a higher input voltage but still looking for something aussie made, for warranty issues

Ctek Dc to DC / solar on ebay for about $280.00.
You don't need a regulator with these little beauties
and they charge both your batteries.
See the blurb on the you tube link.
Pauly

i was looking at those originally but they have a maximum input voltage of 22v,
i guess in the end i could use a a couple of resistors to bring my supply voltage down

Just had a quick look around, found this. Maybe not high enough rating but being DC perhaps you could run 2 in parallel. Rating is output rating so might get away with one.
http://compare.ebay.com.au/like/251067121915?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes

Interesting idea tho, using a house panel in an automotive setup. On a watt per dollar basis they stack up well, especially in your case

Just be careful with your maximum voltage rating. When the system is under no load the output voltage from the panel will be higher than nominal. How much higher depends on how good the panel is. As an example the no load voltage of the 12 volt panel I put on my roof was somewhere in the vacinity of 20 - 22 volts. You will need to find out the maximum no load voltage for your panel and make sure your regulation hardware can tolerate it. You can use the simple resistive method but then you are wasting power under a high load condition and not dropping a lot of voltage under a low/no load condition.

under no load the panel is producing 37 v, i have found a couple of dc regulators that can handle this voltage and bring it back to around 12-15 then doing to run that to the ctek 250dc-dc charger
looks like the best option

Your panel is a 24V panel, not a 12V.

You can get a regulator for a 24V panel then use a 24V-12V converter to drive a DC-DC battery charger - but that's a lot of mucking around.

Umm i run "house" panels on the CT. No difference in my books. thwe problem was just mounting them to give a bit of vibration reduction.

Terry, what's the no-load voltage off one panel in sunlight (between say 10am and 2pm) ? If it's higher than 21V, how do you manage it?

2nd attempt at replying.
The panels I have are these http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ZM9098

• Maximum power: 120W
• Rated voltage: 12V
• Open circuit voltage: 21.8V
• Short circuit current: 7.14A
• Dimensions: 1250 x 808 x 35mm
• Weight: 12kg

and the open circuit voltage is 21.8v.
Also says it on the label stuck on the back.

So I feed them(a parallel pair) into a C-tek D250Sfor my 12V battery. You just need to make sure your regulator can handle the open circuit voltage.


Someone on the CT list claims to have tested a device that will handled the 30+ something OC voltage of a 24V panel and feed it into a 12V battery, but I don't know the details

Anyone have any opinions on the flexible solar panels you can get?

Something like
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Semi-Fle...lar&hash=item1c2d03fbf0&_uhb=1#ht_2758wt_1271

Just thinking for ease of mounting on canopy?

Welcome to the forum, Shay.

They're warterproof (chuckle) and their components provide output within a 5% torrence.

Apart from the bad spelling, you have to make sure of what the little black box is. If it's a regulator, can you turn that on and off? Otherwise it's not too bad.

Thanks Old Tony

Going to try and put together a Triple battery system and just trying to plan it all out!

-Shay- said:

Thanks Old Tony

Going to try and put together a Triple battery system and just trying to plan it all out!

Click to expand...

Triple? to give you increased amp hours?

Instead of 2 x 12V100amphour in parallel, I went 2 x 6V 225amphour in series*.

some of the advice I read a long time ago said to avoid parallel if you can as eventually one will go bad and pull the others down and ruin them too.

somewhere on the internet is a battery FAQ put together by Bill Darden(?). Well worth reading.

*OTOH, if they are free go for it.

More so for mobility and practicality, than the amphour capacity.

Have a 2010 D22 STR, obviously with two cranking batteries in the engine bay. Going to replace one of them with probably a 75-100amp hour deep cycle (depending on space) and then would like another 100 amp hour deep cycle in the tray that is removable. So then can take out fridge (and battery) and leave it at campsite whilst using vehicle during the day for whatever, and then just plug the third battery back in when it needs a charge.

possibly looking into actually having two *third* batteries, that can swap in and out, one to power fridge at campsite, and one in the tray being charged by car/solar whilst out and about during the day.