What Solar Charger, Battery and Inversor should I Use ?

[rdlrn19]

Hi

I'm building a solar panel 16 - 18 volt using solar cells of .5v , 3.5 amps.

I'm using 36 solar cells, approximately 75.6 wats is the panel.

So my question is:

What solar charger, battery and inversor should I use?



Thanks in advanced

[DeltaFox 25]

It depens upon if you want to expand everything. If not you need a charge controler just big enough to keep your batters charged . And a inverter depens what you want to run . Like a 2-150 watt bulbs , you should get a 400 or 500 inverter. The type of battery should be like a golf cart type or a solar battery like AGM sealed.
I hope thats right.

[rdlrn19]

Hi DeltaFox 25, thanks for your fast answer.

Did you think that a charge controller of 12/24 is enough or something more higher?

Also I want to know if the battery type needs to be solar battery or could I use any other type of battery, like car battery?

[DeltaFox 25]

You have to have 18 volts to charge a battery. Battery type is important , I bought some marine deep cycle batterys and they are the wrong type. The solar does nto care about cranking power . If you can afford a solar type battery i'd buy it.
.http://www.batteryfaq.org/ Look at this.

[cindynsg]

What do you think of industrial deep cycle batteries? These are the kind used in electric forklifts and floor sweepers. 4D 180-215 amp hours 12 volts, or 8D 225- 255 amp hours 12 volts?

[DeltaFox 25]

Thats real good because there made for discharging and recharging alot of times. Just like the golf cart battery. Good luck on your solar panel project

[cindynsg]

Ouch could they possibly be any more expensive?
I'm designing a battery bank that I can expand as I go. I want to power two fans and a heat lamp to start. But It won't be long before I'll be able to add onto it. In the end it would be nice if I could handle half of my electric needs with solar power. I'm thinking four 12 volt 280 Ah batteries would be a good start. But I'm having a hard time finding them at around 280 Ah. If I did, what do you think would be a good price for them?

[DeltaFox 25]

The batterys I bought were $119.00 and I got 4 of them befor someone told me that they were wrong for solar. Go to your web broswer and type in solar batterys and It should show you a list of several battery listings.

[Mike90250]

What do you think of industrial deep cycle batteries? These are the kind used in electric forklifts and floor sweepers. 4D 180-215 amp hours 12 volts, or 8D 225- 255 amp hours 12 volts?

The are not as efficient. you can loose 30% of your power in internal losses. Solar deep cycle batteries are better efficiency, about 20%. AGM batteries even better, about 3-5%, and no EQ needed.

[DeltaFox 25]

Yes I know I found out the hard way. I'd like to get some AGM sealed batterys but it cost. I just don't have it right now.

[Mike90250]

I'm designing a battery bank that I can expand as I go.

BAD IDEA.

Adding new batteries to a bank, will quickly degrade the new batteries to the level of the oldest. If only a month or so apart, not too bad. Over 6 months age difference, NOT SUGGESTED.

Here's a great article about connecting batteries
http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html (connect batteries on diagonal )
and some other battery stuff:
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm (short & sweet)
http://www.batteryfaq.org/ (very large)

[DeltaFox 25]

Here is a book that I have been reading and it has alot of items in it that I didn't know . It has a good part on batterys.
.<a href="http://s635.photobucket.com/albums/uu73/WayneBlake/?action=view&current=photovoltaics.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu73/WayneBlake/photovoltaics.jpg" border="0" alt="photovotaics"></a>

[DeltaFox 25]

Is there a specal way to hook the batterys in searies. Or can you do that.


. This is a book I bought and everyone should have one

[Mike90250]

Is there a specal way to hook the batterys in searies. Or can you do that.

Since very few places sell 48V batteries, you have to series connect 12 or 6V batteries to get the desired voltage. You need cables that can carry the full amps of your charge and drain. The smartguage website covers that pretty well.

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/cable_type.html

[DeltaFox 25]

I was thinking a #2 wire would do. I see where you are supose to conect your batterys up to go to your inverter but now how would you put the wires to charge the same batterys. That book was very helpful .