Solar charger without solar panels

diego96
diego96 Registered Users Posts: 19 ✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
I would like to test a solar charger indoors with a test battery bank and a test load. I don't have any solar panels yet. Is there any reason why I couldn't just supply 24-28VDC into the solar charger PV input to start testing things? I have a 600W AC/DC power supply that I would use.
(Solar charger is Outback FlexMax 60).
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Solar charger without solar panels

    Yes. If you use a PWM controller, things will not be happy. PV panels are Current sources. Power supplies are voltage sources. Your power supply and PWM controller will not like being hooked to a 12V battery. A MPPT controller would be much happier in this situation.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • GreenerPower
    GreenerPower Solar Expert Posts: 264 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Solar charger without solar panels

    It's possible but must be very careful. Otherwise, you might fry it. FM60 is MPPT . Need to limit the CC charge current not to overload the AC/DC PS . Also might want to follow the setup your FM60 for wind to avoid frequent sweeping for MPP. I've done this with my MX60 during long power outage - AC/DC PS powered from generator , DC goes to MX60 and let it manage the battery charging.

    GP
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  • diego96
    diego96 Registered Users Posts: 19 ✭
    #4
    Re: Solar charger without solar panels

    Thanks for the replies! I'm glad I asked, I didn't think there would be any issues but I guess there are. I also just called Outback and they say to set the AC/DC power supply to a minimum of 35VDC because that is minimum Vmp that would come from a 24V solar array.
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  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Solar charger without solar panels

    I'v been running a Xantrex c 30 on a crappy PowerMax Charger/converter for a couple years, it works quite well.
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