SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post

Skybird · 11-05-21, 11:23 AM

The system is complete, and I had first test runs yesterday and today. All works. And better than I expected.

The battery has 2000 Wh. The solar panels are three, each 200W, so that is a maximum capacity of 600W on a fine clear sunny summer day. Each panel has 20V. The battery demands charging currents between 35V and 150V. So you can charge with 2 or 3 of these panels, but not with just one.

The way I did it, is expensive. You can get the same effect, I assume, when buying components individually and then assemble everything by hand. But for that you really need to know what you are doing, and you need to have some background knowledge about electronics and their components. I don'tT know much more about it than school physics, and much of that already is forgotten by now. This set however is the all-inclusive solution, fail-safe and guaranteed compatible. I put things together without even looking for a manual.

Its no candidate for a setup beauty contest, just a quick functionality test. Now that I have sorted the sequence of steps, I can set it all up and put it together again in 5 minutes.

27kg, with packing material it was 34 kg.

3 of these. 6.5 kg per item. Folded 52x52cm, unfolded 52x220cm.

General idea of how to arrange them on my balcony/loggia:

Now, today was grey and overcast sky, with only a few sunbeams coming through for some seconds here and there. Lousy conditions for photovoltaic experiments.

I expected to get not more than 5-10% of the possible maximum (600W) under ideal conditions. And it was like that, I got charging with 10-30W with all 3 panels. I was not disappointed, I expected that. As I said: lousy sky.

But then...

I remembered to have red that for some reason that I do not know a single panel laying in shadow can nevertheless have a dramatic degrading effect on the efficiency of the other panels as well, even if the latter are in non-shadowed conditions. The one panel on the ground was partially shadowed by the wall of the balcony, maybe 30-40% of it covered. I decided to have an experiment. I took the one panel on the ground out of the setup, and ran with just the two on the roof, fully exposed to the grey ceiling. IMMEDIATELY the charging jumped upwards to unbelievable 150-190W! that was a quarter and almost half of their full capacity (2x200W)! Lesson learned: never have even just one panel laying in the shades. The difference is multiple factors. This I did not expect. How will it be in better conditions, or in summer, and then with all three panels? Will everything go up in flames here? Will I still be there to report?

Test passed. With flying colours.

P.S. This is a setup meant to be mobile, it is not fully weather proof. It is not intended to be left in place for weeks and months. For a mobile panel, it is sturdy and robust of very good quality, however. It will survivi a mild rain of limited duration, but it should be avoided if possible. The battery shuts down at temps below 0. So having it installed in your camper van while visiting Scandinavia in winter will not work well. And it certainly is too heavy to be carried around int he woods. For my needs, however, it is a perfect, an absolutely perfect solution. I bought in a sale, paid a bit over 3000 coins, but got one panel for free, almost. Happy guy I am!

11-05-21, 11:23 AM	#15
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,681 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	The system is complete, and I had first test runs yesterday and today. All works. And better than I expected. The battery has 2000 Wh. The solar panels are three, each 200W, so that is a maximum capacity of 600W on a fine clear sunny summer day. Each panel has 20V. The battery demands charging currents between 35V and 150V. So you can charge with 2 or 3 of these panels, but not with just one. The way I did it, is expensive. You can get the same effect, I assume, when buying components individually and then assemble everything by hand. But for that you really need to know what you are doing, and you need to have some background knowledge about electronics and their components. I don'tT know much more about it than school physics, and much of that already is forgotten by now. This set however is the all-inclusive solution, fail-safe and guaranteed compatible. I put things together without even looking for a manual. Its no candidate for a setup beauty contest, just a quick functionality test. Now that I have sorted the sequence of steps, I can set it all up and put it together again in 5 minutes. 27kg, with packing material it was 34 kg. 3 of these. 6.5 kg per item. Folded 52x52cm, unfolded 52x220cm. General idea of how to arrange them on my balcony/loggia: Now, today was grey and overcast sky, with only a few sunbeams coming through for some seconds here and there. Lousy conditions for photovoltaic experiments. I expected to get not more than 5-10% of the possible maximum (600W) under ideal conditions. And it was like that, I got charging with 10-30W with all 3 panels. I was not disappointed, I expected that. As I said: lousy sky. But then... I remembered to have red that for some reason that I do not know a single panel laying in shadow can nevertheless have a dramatic degrading effect on the efficiency of the other panels as well, even if the latter are in non-shadowed conditions. The one panel on the ground was partially shadowed by the wall of the balcony, maybe 30-40% of it covered. I decided to have an experiment. I took the one panel on the ground out of the setup, and ran with just the two on the roof, fully exposed to the grey ceiling. IMMEDIATELY the charging jumped upwards to unbelievable 150-190W! that was a quarter and almost half of their full capacity (2x200W)! Lesson learned: never have even just one panel laying in the shades. The difference is multiple factors. This I did not expect. How will it be in better conditions, or in summer, and then with all three panels? Will everything go up in flames here? Will I still be there to report? Test passed. With flying colours. P.S. This is a setup meant to be mobile, it is not fully weather proof. It is not intended to be left in place for weeks and months. For a mobile panel, it is sturdy and robust of very good quality, however. It will survivi a mild rain of limited duration, but it should be avoided if possible. The battery shuts down at temps below 0. So having it installed in your camper van while visiting Scandinavia in winter will not work well. And it certainly is too heavy to be carried around int he woods. For my needs, however, it is a perfect, an absolutely perfect solution. I bought in a sale, paid a bit over 3000 coins, but got one panel for free, almost. Happy guy I am! __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert. Last edited by Skybird; 11-05-21 at 11:35 AM.