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I wrote a post on a motorcycle forum about this issue but thought it'd be better to post on a solar forum...
My son and I bought two motorcycles and then we got a shed to keep them in (we don't have a garage). I'd like to hook up one or two Battery Tenders to keep the motorcycle batteries charged over the winter. I've been eyeing the Harbor Freight 45 watt solar kit for a while so when the price dropped to $129 I bought it. The kit comes with three 15 watt cells and a controller. Now I'm wondering how I should hook things up. I don't have a good storage/backup battery or inverter yet. I'll probably be buying a battery (assuming I need one) but am not sure about an inverter because all I need in the shed is power to maintain the two motorcycle batteries and DC powered lights (which the HF kit came with too). Below is my motorcycle forum post with setup options. What are your thoughts?
You can read the whole post from the start at http://www.motorcycleforum.com/showt...50#post2098650
Here are some ways I figure I could hook up the Battery Tender Solar Charger (DC to DC):
1) HF cells through HF controller to backup battery and to BT as the load:
2) HF cells through HF controller to BT as the load with no battery backup:
3) HF cells through controller to bike as the battery backup with no load:
4) HF cells directly to BT as the controller to bike:
I'm thinking #1 is the way to go. Not sure how things will work with one controller (the BT) hooked into another controller (the HF) though.
My son and I bought two motorcycles and then we got a shed to keep them in (we don't have a garage). I'd like to hook up one or two Battery Tenders to keep the motorcycle batteries charged over the winter. I've been eyeing the Harbor Freight 45 watt solar kit for a while so when the price dropped to $129 I bought it. The kit comes with three 15 watt cells and a controller. Now I'm wondering how I should hook things up. I don't have a good storage/backup battery or inverter yet. I'll probably be buying a battery (assuming I need one) but am not sure about an inverter because all I need in the shed is power to maintain the two motorcycle batteries and DC powered lights (which the HF kit came with too). Below is my motorcycle forum post with setup options. What are your thoughts?
You can read the whole post from the start at http://www.motorcycleforum.com/showt...50#post2098650
Here are some ways I figure I could hook up the Battery Tender Solar Charger (DC to DC):
1) HF cells through HF controller to backup battery and to BT as the load:
2) HF cells through HF controller to BT as the load with no battery backup:
3) HF cells through controller to bike as the battery backup with no load:
4) HF cells directly to BT as the controller to bike:
I'm thinking #1 is the way to go. Not sure how things will work with one controller (the BT) hooked into another controller (the HF) though.
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