I just bought this portable solar panel for when i go camping and backpacking. I can currently use it to charge my portable powerbank to keep my phone charged. There are times when I'm several miles into a state forest or something and could potentially be stranded if my car battery failed. I have very little knowledge of solar panels and converting current, but it seems like I just need to step the voltage down to 12v and limit the wattage?
Submitted
9 years 4 months ago
Comments
Happy to help,
So what may be helpful for you is to utilize a charge controller, rather than connecting the panel directly to the battery itself. The reason for this is that the module can over-charge and damage the battery which you definitely do not want to happen while out in the parks. The second thing that the charge controller will do is to step down the voltage of the module to that 14 or so volts that the battery wants to see.
For your purposes I can recommend a small inexpensive charge controller. Can you tell me what the short-circuit amperage of your module is? Also, certain chargers come with options for loads and load control as well as low-voltage disconnect features that protect your battery from being overly discharge which can shorten the life of the battery.
Regards,
Adam
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