Solar Pool Light Works!

joe_danielewicz@msn.com

I posted in this forum about using four Iridium phone solar charger panels to recharge a deep cycle 12 volt battery.

Well, I finally mounted the panels on a dog house and installed a solar controller and it works! Here's a picture. I changed out the 120V 500W original pool light for a 12V car headlamp and it lights up the pool.

I've also attached a couple of low voltage landscape lights to the controller.

Thanks to this forum for your helpful ideas.

Joe

niel

Re: Solar Pool Light Works!

keep an eye on your power consumption so that you don't drain too much from the battery. keep a watchful eye on the pvs' ability to keep a charge in the battery as well.

joe_danielewicz@msn.com

Re: Solar Pool Light Works!

Niel,

Yes, I'm taking readings morning and night. I notice the battery is at 12.2 V in the afternoon after full day of charging before the lights go on in the evening. This seems to indicate only 60% battery charge.

Perhaps I should take off one of the 4 Watt low voltage landscape lights, and just leave the pool light?

Here's the spec on the Iridium PV panels, four of them connected in series:

Peak Voltage: 3.34 volts
Peak Current: 2.97 Amps
Peak Power: 9.9 Watts

Thanks,

Joe

mike95490

Re: Solar Pool Light Works!

Yep, you are pulling more out of the battery, than you are pushing in. Kill the pool light for a couple days, see if your battery has been damaged, or if you can get it to charge up fully. throw a car charger on it for a couple hours.