SirMichael
New Member
I'm putting together a small solar system, 2-100w panels and a Renogy charge controller and a single 100AH SLA battery. I'm not planning on a lot of bright sun here in SE Minnesota, especially during the winter months so I may well need some supplementary battery charging for my 12v power usage.
However putting an AC charger on the charge controller output side (diode isolated) will require a charger that is rated for SLA battery (float, charge, etc.).
Is there any reason why I can't put an AC charger (about 15-16v) on the Solar Panel side of the charge controller, with some Shottky diode isolation to keep the solar panel power out of the power supply output, and the Power Supply output out of the Solar panel input. That way, the Renogy charge controller has full control of the battery charge/float voltage, and when the solar panel voltage drops to below the AC charger voltage, the AC charger would supply the input voltage to the charge controller.
I'm guessing that I'll use something like an 15 to 18v supply that would fold back it's voltage when the current requirements exceed the supply output.
Is there any reason this setup would be a problem? (I'm pretty good at designing hardware for the Shottky diode circuit and heat sink. I have some 30v/30A dual diodes in a TO220 case that should work.)
Sir Michael
However putting an AC charger on the charge controller output side (diode isolated) will require a charger that is rated for SLA battery (float, charge, etc.).
Is there any reason why I can't put an AC charger (about 15-16v) on the Solar Panel side of the charge controller, with some Shottky diode isolation to keep the solar panel power out of the power supply output, and the Power Supply output out of the Solar panel input. That way, the Renogy charge controller has full control of the battery charge/float voltage, and when the solar panel voltage drops to below the AC charger voltage, the AC charger would supply the input voltage to the charge controller.
I'm guessing that I'll use something like an 15 to 18v supply that would fold back it's voltage when the current requirements exceed the supply output.
Is there any reason this setup would be a problem? (I'm pretty good at designing hardware for the Shottky diode circuit and heat sink. I have some 30v/30A dual diodes in a TO220 case that should work.)
Sir Michael