Electricity needs when the grids down.

[Pete Grey]

(25 March 2020, 22:00)Pete Grey Wrote: .................For our needs all we want is charging for 12v batteries (leisure and vehicle) usb devices, AA and AAA rechargeables, these are our very basic requirements for led lanterns , cb, walkie talkies, flash lights etc.

For our main charging needs we have a 100 watt folding solar panel with built in charge controller, good summer sun gives us 6-7 amps, quite useful, i haven’t tried it in winter weather i expect only 1-1.5 amps, so we will probably get a second one. These will be used to charge our leisure batteries (we have two) or any vehicle battery as necessary.

We also have a couple of 20 watt panels (and an old 5 or 10 watt, can’t remember which) which will be used mainly to charge usb devices and the AA and AAA rechargables. We have two 12 v 7 Ah sealed batteries out of an emergency lighting system these are gaffer taped together and wired to a cigarette lighter socket as a portable CB power supply.

Our new plans.

An eco-worthy 240w system, two 120w panels, 30A charge controller with cables and mounting brackets, and two new leisure batteries with selector switch and fuses/circuit-breakers. The panels mounted on our only south facing roof, the garden shed.

The 100w folding panel, bought initially for the camper, will also be used for the old leisure battery, which is in a diy box with a cigarette lighter socket, usb socket and a volt meter fitted (ebay panel).

The two 7Ah batteries in the power bag are permanently on charge by the little 10w panel, no charge controller is needed due to the very low current.

I’ve ordered a charge controller to use with the two 20w panels as another system for small devices, rechargeables or usb, or just as a backup.