Help this school teacher avoid burning down a shed, pls

traeba
traeba Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
This is going to be part of an activity after reading some non fiction texts regarding solar power and its generation.

I am hooking up a solar panel to a little play shed. It will be directly wired to a pair of 12v 140mm computer case fans. Kids get to enjoy a little cooling station while sun is out, and it just stops when the sun is gone. 

Panel is :

10W 12V Solar Panel

  • Rated Power: 10W
  • Maximum/Peak Voltage(Vmp): 18V
  • Open Circuit Voltage(Voc): 22.41 V
  • Short circuit current: 0.61A
  • Maximum current 0.56A
Fans are:

Noctua NF-P14s
  • 12V
  • 1.2W
  • 0.1A
I just would hate to burn down the play shed. I think I'm doing it right, and I tested it out with a tiny panel and much smaller fan, but I've never used any panels other then the little one in education science kits.
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Comments

  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,006 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    You should have very little chance of burning anything down. 12 volt doesn't arc well and 10 watts would be hard to create enough heat to start a fire. I had a similare setup as an exhaust fan in my outside power center for about 8 months. The fan died from dust, replaced it and the next one lasted about 6 months. The '12 volt' solar panel does produce about 17-18 volts, might be out of gambit for a computer fan as well... Have replacements, but still running a small AC fan.
    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
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  • traeba
    traeba Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭
    #3
    Thanks! I just used caps to hook up one of the fans to the panel and took it outside. Thing hums along great! Guess I'll find out if it burns through fans or not. 
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