What to do with odd 10Vdc solar panel (large 200W)

[keaton85]

My father-in-law has a large, say 200W panel that only outputs 10Vdc OC. Not really usable for any 12V system sadly.

I was thinking of running it into a 7.2V lithium-ion bank in order to charge USB devices. Any ideas for a cheap system? or get a 6V deep cycle cell like a T-105 and charge that with a 6V charge controller? trying to come up with a cheap DIY system to charge devices or run the home WiFi off of it.

[inetdog]

My father-in-law has a large, say 200W panel that only outputs 10Vdc OC. Not really usable for any 12V system sadly.

I was thinking of running it into a 7.2V lithium-ion bank in order to charge USB devices. Any ideas for a cheap system? or get a 6V deep cycle cell like a T-105 and charge that with a 6V charge controller? trying to come up with a cheap DIY system to charge devices or run the home WiFi off of it.

If you had two of them, you would have something to work with.
Q: Is it 10V nominal or was it 18V nominal and now defective?

200W is a lot of USB charging, and you may not be able to run your WiFi off 6V without an up converter.

[keaton85]

Only have one, and 10V is all it will output OC.

I was considering a T105 battery or similar but I can no find a large enough 6V charge controller to handle the amount of power the panel can output. If I could charge a 6V battery, I have a DC-DC boost circuit to run 12V loads.

It would be great to have a small charging station for all the phones and iPads in the house! Keep a tiny bit of load off the main house solar system.

[PNPmacnab]

It might have half the panel shorted, maybe bypass diode. 10V is like half the open circuit voltage of normal panel. Don't think they ever made 200W 6V panels. I had some Photowatt panels and used half of each in series. Then the other cells died and both panels became completely dead. You could use a cheap ebay boost converter while it lasts to get up to something useful.

[bcroe]

Only have one, and 10V is all it will output OC.

I was considering a T105 battery or similar but I can no find a large enough 6V charge controller to handle the amount of power the panel can output. If I could charge a 6V battery, I have a DC-DC boost circuit to run 12V loads.

It would be great to have a small charging station for all the phones and iPads in the house! Keep a tiny bit of load off the main house solar system.

A fairly simple unregulated circuit could be built to output a total of 20 or 30VDC. Sepic converters can give the voltage you
want with regulation; there are some available for 12V batteries that are run down. Bruce Roe

[Brian53713]

Experts, could you not hook a fan of some sort up to it?

[jflorey2]

Experts, could you not hook a fan of some sort up to it?

Sure. Use a LINEAR (not switchmode) regulator and run anything from 5 to 10 volts. Should operate most 12V fans (or lights) at lower speeds/brightnesses.

You might also consider a Genasun boost controller. Their lowest voltage one (intended for charging 12V batteries) might work; it says that it works down to 5V. Of course it's also $65 and you could probably buy a standard 12V panel for something like that.