Most of the other people that I have flown RC planes with end up charging their LiPo batteries using an inverter connected to their vehicle battery. The problem there was sometimes the distance from where you prep your plane and your vehicle was pretty far so having a "charging station" close by was better. And if you could recharge the "station" battery with solar made it even more desirable. The biggest problem was the cost of a "solar charging station" as compared to more LiPo's already charged or going back to the vehicle to recharge.
The biggest key is to find a really good LiPo balance charger that can work from AC or DC. I have an older model Revolectric Cellpro 4 amp charger which has worked well for my LiPo. I do not think they make these any more but IMO they are quality LiPo chargers.
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He asked for "small and portable" so I'm guessing he wants to recharge away from home. I would just buy a few spare batteries unless you aren't going to be at a location with utility power for multiple days. Seems like a lot of work to go down that path but I don't know all the details either.Leave a comment:
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Did you want to make the system portable or fixed at your home.
I built a mobile unit that cost abut $550 but you can probably do it for less. I used it to recharge my LiPo batteries for my RC planes while out at the field.
What it is comprised of is a 65Ah Blue top Optima battery, an 80 watt folding solar panel, a cheap PWM CC, a 250watt inverter and a luggage cart that can transport the battery and panel.
For some reason I can't post pictures of it but I have posted some in the past.
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Solar panel charger for RC model car batteries
I would like to build a small portable solar panel battery charger to recharge 1000 to 5000 mAh RC model car batteries. I would really value any advice from someone that has done this.
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