Hi guys. I'm in the design process for adding solar panels to my rc plane. My current plan is to use 30 Sunpower cells in series which will put out ~100 watts (17v 5.8A). Here's the tricky part. I can't afford the weight penalty of a big heavy charge controller. So my plan is to use a lifepo4 battery (highly resistance to overcharge) which at fully charged will be 14.6v and match it with my solar panels which will be ~17v. Under load the battery can drop to as low as 12.8v which should give a nice voltage difference. During cruising it will probably be less though.
So here's my question. Without me needing to buy the panels and test this, will this work the way I think it does? My plan is that even when the battery is fully charged while flying it won't overcharge itself to badly. In theory the battery could charge all the way up to the voltage of the solar panels and not damage the battery in any way other than longevity so I'm assuming that's worst case.
So here's my question. Without me needing to buy the panels and test this, will this work the way I think it does? My plan is that even when the battery is fully charged while flying it won't overcharge itself to badly. In theory the battery could charge all the way up to the voltage of the solar panels and not damage the battery in any way other than longevity so I'm assuming that's worst case.
Comment