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So far from what I have read you guys seem to know your stuff and I’m in desperate need for some knowledgeable advice I’m totally green when it comes to Solar and have a project I’m working on that I think will be best suited using solar. I would like to build a lighting system that will run daily for roughly 12hrs a day and requires little to no maintenance (changing out batteries etc). My initial design will use (4) 30 led pods on a timer for 12hrs a day. A 80AH agm battery with a 15 watt solar panel and charging controller. A link for the bulbs below
My dad is an electrical engineer and we have crunched some numbers but neither of us are as knowledgeable as you guys in the solar aspect. So far our best guess is the bulbs/lamps are .42A (420mA or .105A times 4 lamps) + the timer draws .25A (250mA) which is probably guessing high on draw I think. Then at full charge (12.7VDC) the battery capacity would be for 12 hours = (.42 + .25) Amps x 12 hours = 8.04 Amp Hours
With an 80AH battery it will take aprox 100 hours for it to discharge. If we used a 15 Watt panel we are replacing/charging during the day at a rate of 1.18A per hour. We are charging at a rate higher than our discharge rate, but not by much. We are considering going to a 30 watt panel and a higher charge rate controller. That way we should be fine even if we have a continuous run of cloudy days. I am thinking a 30 Watt will cut our charge time in half. This way the battery should NEVER run down... What are your thoughts on our math and what panels/charging controller etc would be your suggestion. I wouldn't mind having a little beefier system so I can possibly add more lights if needed. Thank you in advance for every ones help and suggestions.
My dad is an electrical engineer and we have crunched some numbers but neither of us are as knowledgeable as you guys in the solar aspect. So far our best guess is the bulbs/lamps are .42A (420mA or .105A times 4 lamps) + the timer draws .25A (250mA) which is probably guessing high on draw I think. Then at full charge (12.7VDC) the battery capacity would be for 12 hours = (.42 + .25) Amps x 12 hours = 8.04 Amp Hours
With an 80AH battery it will take aprox 100 hours for it to discharge. If we used a 15 Watt panel we are replacing/charging during the day at a rate of 1.18A per hour. We are charging at a rate higher than our discharge rate, but not by much. We are considering going to a 30 watt panel and a higher charge rate controller. That way we should be fine even if we have a continuous run of cloudy days. I am thinking a 30 Watt will cut our charge time in half. This way the battery should NEVER run down... What are your thoughts on our math and what panels/charging controller etc would be your suggestion. I wouldn't mind having a little beefier system so I can possibly add more lights if needed. Thank you in advance for every ones help and suggestions.
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