New to site & solar, want to charge Husqvarna automower

[Iaxilrod]

HI all, if there is a particular forum section for this please direct me there. I am planning on getting a Husqvarna Automower, I'd love to set it up with its own solar charing system.
It runs on an 18V 10 amp hour Li-on battery. Don't know its chargers specs yet, obviously there is an inverter built into it since they generally run off of grid AC.

Would my best bet be a system with its on, larger batteries so that the Automower battery can charge at its usual rate?

Thanks in advance.

[Mike90250]

The first problem is, nearly all solar power gear is preset for 12, 24, or 48v Finding a charger for your 18V battery will be tough. Some of the expensive, high end chargers are programmable, but then why not use the supplied charger, instead of solar ?

The best cost benefit in most cases, is a household Grid Tie system, where panels on the roof, offset some of your electrical consumption from the grid. There is even a 30% tax incentive for these (if I recall correctly).

[Iaxilrod]

Mike90250 I suppose I should have been more clear. Those are the systems requirements. The Automower is sold with a charge station that iI would still want to use. I am hoping to power the charge station with solar/batteries. I know it's a bit inefficient to go DC to AC then back to DC but at lease the zero emission mower would truly be zero emission. Long term I totally want my whole home on a grid tied system (with battery backup) but that is a few years down the road.

[Mike90250]

What's the charger for the mower consume in watts ? How many hours for a full charge, how many days between mowing

My off the seat guess would be a 300w grid tie panel, a solid 20Am MPPT charge controller, 2 golf cart batteries ( 6v 20ah) and a small 200w pure sine inverter, fuses, wires, mounting hardware, ending up close to $1,000 all said and done.

[Iaxilrod]

Battery type
Li-Ion
Battery voltage
18 V
Battery capacity
10.0 Ah
Typical charging time
60 min
Typical mow time on one charge
270 min
Power consumption during cutting
35 W

Not much info on the charger itself.

[Mike90250]

Looks to be about 200wh in the battery, recharging in 1 hr, about a 250W charger draw from the Grid, less if the battery was not completely drained.

I'd stand by my above parts guestimate, but the inverter needs to bump up to a 300-500w inverter.

Do you park and charge the mower yourself, or does it autodock ?

[Iaxilrod]

It auto-docks. Imagine a roomba for your yard, only it runs on a schedule (I don't think roombas do)

[Mike90250]

Auto dock means it's going to want the inverter on all the time to power the charger. The inverter, sitting idle, will burn an appreciable amount of power. Some inverters have a standby mode, and applying a load will wake it up out of hibernation.

[Iaxilrod]

Copy that, so when shopping for an inverter I should look for one with hibernation mode.

[PNPmacnab]

I think you should buy the mower first. I bet it could be done with a grid tie panel and $10 for electronics. Does this thing cut grass at night?

[Iaxilrod]

It cuts 24/7!

[Ampster]

Welcome to the world of solar. If it weren't for the paperwork, I would recommend a small grid tie system. That way when you are done charging you would get some credit for the extra production..

[PNPmacnab]

Totally by accident today I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w8-Uwohi6c I would do it differently, but it gives the basic requirements of system needed.

[Ampster]

Totally by accident today I found this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w8-Uwohi6c I would do it differently, but it gives the basic requirements of system needed.

I would presume that the battery system already contains a DC to DC converter or charge controller that drops the 32V to the correct voltage for charging the lithium batteries in the lawnmower.