Charge regulator

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janusz
janusz Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
I have to buy regulator.
The system I plan to setup is in the place I visit only Sat-Sunday.
The rest of the week the battery will be only charged.
What model is the most suitable for me.
On weekends I will use it extensively, so I plan to have many many batteries.
But only one or to 20W panels.
Please advise something good but not expensive like outback.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: Charge regulator

    1 or 2 20w pvs will not do much for a battery, let alone many many batteries. you also need to replace all of the power you use with the power from pvs and account for losses in that process too.
    if pricing is a problem then maybe you won't afford the proper numbers of pvs needed for your battery and load requirements either. you may be better off with a generator charging the batteries through a 3 stage charger or chargers if necessary. the alternative is to charge the batteries at home and haul them all there, which isn't a good idea.
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  • janusz
    janusz Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #3
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    Re: Charge regulator
    niel wrote: »
    1 or 2 20w pvs will not do much for a battery, let alone many many batteries. you also need to replace all of the power you use with the power from pvs and account for losses in that process too.
    if pricing is a problem then maybe you won't afford the proper numbers of pvs needed for your battery and load requirements either. you may be better off with a generator charging the batteries through a 3 stage charger or chargers if necessary. the alternative is to charge the batteries at home and haul them all there, which isn't a good idea.

    Well I just start. One panel, one battery I have
    Now I have to buy regulator and I don't want to change it 2 months from now.
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  • janusz
    janusz Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #4
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    Re: Charge regulator

    There PWM and MPPT regulators.
    I would prefer to buy once a good one.
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  • janusz
    janusz Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #5
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    Re: Charge regulator

    A generator for battery? Yes I was thinking about, but they are noisy, on camp?
    They would remove me together with generator.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
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    75

    20 watt PV probably won't even cover the self discharge of most battery banks.

    Please read a bit and understand battery technology,,, I suggest these links:
    http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Lifespan%20of%20Batteries
    http://www.batteryfaq.org/

    After that,, I suggest that you,,as we say,, "do the math" That is calculate your estimated loads, (understand that most people under estimate their loads and over estimate the amount of power any give PV system will produce)

    Add up all the loads you expect over any given period (day or weekend) Figure out what percentage of battery discharge you are willing to live with,, never more than ~50%,, some suggest never more than 25%. Doing this will begin to tell you how much solar you will need.

    After you have calculated your loads,, you can design a PV system. Remember that there are some very significant system loses in a battery based Pv system. Panel, efficiency, wiring losses, charge controller losses, battery charging loses,, inverter efficiencies etc.

    As a rule of thumb I like to consider the name plate rating of a PV system, take ~50% of that name plate to ROUGHLY figure the above loses,, multiply this by the number of hours of GOOD sun you can expect in a day (usually ~4) and that will give you the amount of power you can expect to get out of Pv system,, on average per day.

    So,, for example,, 100 watts of panel,, would put out 100/2X4=200 watt/hours of power per day,,, enough to run a 100 watt TV for 2 hours,, or a 15 watt cfl bulb for ~13 hours.

    Welcome to the forum,,, and shout when you have more questions.. There are some very sharp folks who are most willing to help,,, and they know their stuff!

    Tony
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  • janusz
    janusz Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭
    #7
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    Re: Charge regulator

    Unless You know quiet generators.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
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    Re: Charge regulator

    Honda Eu series of generators,, eu 1000, eu 2000 etc are very fuel efficient,,, and very quiet.

    Eu1000 will run a ~20 amp charger into 12 volts,, a 200 will run more than 40 amps, depending on the charger and it's power factor.

    Tony
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  • PhilS
    PhilS Solar Expert Posts: 370 ✭✭✭
    #9
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    Re: Charge regulator

    As Tony said, the Honda EU series are VERY quiet! I own an eu1000i Honda and use it camping with no complaints from others at all.

    To illustrate: my wife and I do craft fairs. We were at one where another vendor was using an electronic cash register and a charge card machine. I asked where he was getting the electricity and he said "...right at your feet". I looked, and sure enough, under his table about 8 inched from me was this Honda eu1000i and it was running. Mind you.... we are in a forest setting and standing next to it I could barely hear it WHEN he pointed it out to me.

    Yamaha also makes some comparable models. The key is "inverter". These generators will throttle down the engine to supply the load required, not just run at 3600 RPM constantly like most generators in order to maintain the correct frequency (60 Hz). Additionally they are well soundproofed... you can't see the actual engine without opening an access panel.

    Phil
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