Thursday, November 22, 2012

60 Watt Solar Panel Power System Working

Hi All, I wanted to write today to show my 60 watt Solar Panel Power system working with a deep cycle battery and a solar charge controller. The below picture was taken at 10:00am today, November 22nd. Happy Thanksgiving!. I am in the Desert Southwest so we are getting good sun exposure for this time of year. From the pictures you can see that my battery starts off at around 12.4 volts and after connecting it to my solar panels that are in direct sunlight the reading jumps up to almost 13.5 volts. I really need to add an ammeter to my setup to know how much current I am producing. As mentioned in my other posts I am learning that my solar panels will make good voltage during the day 16 volts to 20 volts but the current varies greatly due to the amount of direct sunlight they get. My panels are rated for a total of 3.5 amps for both at nominal and a max current of 3.8 amps. I will be purchasing more panels and batteries in the near future with a goal of creating a small solar setup capable of running my chest freezer in the garage and also a little extra for when power goes out and lights are needed. My next system will be properly sized according to all the available solar power calculators that are available online. My favorite solar power site right now is Solar Panel Talk. You can find them at http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/forum.php Here are pictures of my system:

60 Watt Solar Panels with Portable Battery, Charge Controller and Inverter

12.5 volts before Connecting Panels

Almost 14 volts after Solar Panels Connected

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