kernow60 wrote:
Hi
Yes you have a choice on the controller power range from about 5w up to 30w, so I chose the 20w being the panel is 20w.
On most days two of the red led's are lit up, and down here in Cornwall today we have some bright sunshine
so all three are showing today. If you purchase the panel in the link you have a fair amount of lead with it with 2x crocodile clips attached, I cut these off because I drilled a hole through the wall for the cable to pass through. Once inside the garage I connected the 2x wires + and - into a normal 13-amp switched household socket, from there I attached some flat twin core flex the type used for bedside lamps etc and connected a 13-amp plug with a 3-amp fuse to a short length of twin core flex into the first 2x terminals on the controller which are for the current from the panel into the controller, connect another twin core length to the second pair of terminals on the controller which simply go to whatever you want to charge.
The reason I did it this way is that I switch off the supply from the panel before connecting or disconnecting the cable to whatever I'm charging.
Thanks, didn't think of wiring it up to a switch, another good idea. Will probably order 1 on Friday. But at work today I mentioned it to 1 of the other blokes, and he dug out some old little panels they use (he did explain what it was for but I can't remember what, powering some sort of sensor I think). Anyway, it was free and he gave me a lead to connect to the battery and then connect the panel so will have a go with that as well.
spondon440 wrote:
I have, it works a treat
Just as a bit of an insight, the last three months account for 2% of the power generation of this system, its as optimum as its possible to be position wise, we have actually had several days when all that produced nearly nothing, I wouldn't guarantee that one of those chargers would charge a battery all the time.
Andy
Lol yea we've got solar panels at work on 1 of the plants and on top the warehouse. I can't remember the figures, but it hasn't saved much money. But they were free. I'm not hoping for a huge amount of power from it, just enough to stop the battery going completely flat if left a couple of weeks. There's no alarm or anything on it draining it.