Hello all! This is my first ever post on this (awesome) site
Experience level: I have a reasonable grasp of the theory of electricity (no problem comprehending volts/amp/watts) but am fairly lacking in real-world electronics skills.
I have the following questions:
Question 1: What gadgets do I need to charge my 12v car battery with a 28w (nominal) BigBlue solar charger that puts out 5v through a USB type A socket?
Questtion 2: Is this actually going to work? In real world conditions the charger puts out about 0.5A - 2A (or 3A in fierce sunlight) so really it's a 2.5w - 15w charger. I think that although it will be very slow to charge the car battery, it should be capable of doing it. I really only intend to use it as a trickle charger for when the car is unused (sometimes for a few months).
I already have the big blue charger so I think I will need the following:
- a voltage step up converter or DC boost converter (to adjust from 5v to whatever the car battery optimum charging voltage should be). Is there something out there that can do this? And what voltage should I step up to? 15v? 13.8v? 12v?
- a charge controller unit that can shut the charging off when the battery is full, prevents the car battery discharging into the solar panel and ideally does clever things to change the charging rate depending on how full the battery is.
I don't have a soldering kit with me so I'd prefer to get something that is plug and play (i.e. a USB connector at one end to connect into the solar panel & a dual cigarette lighter socket / direct battery connection at the other).
I've searched ebay and amazon and am struggling to find the right units to do this job.
Can anyone help out by telling me if this idea is a waste of time, and if not, by pointing me to the right bits to purchase?
Thanks very much!!!!
Experience level: I have a reasonable grasp of the theory of electricity (no problem comprehending volts/amp/watts) but am fairly lacking in real-world electronics skills.
I have the following questions:
Question 1: What gadgets do I need to charge my 12v car battery with a 28w (nominal) BigBlue solar charger that puts out 5v through a USB type A socket?
Questtion 2: Is this actually going to work? In real world conditions the charger puts out about 0.5A - 2A (or 3A in fierce sunlight) so really it's a 2.5w - 15w charger. I think that although it will be very slow to charge the car battery, it should be capable of doing it. I really only intend to use it as a trickle charger for when the car is unused (sometimes for a few months).
I already have the big blue charger so I think I will need the following:
- a voltage step up converter or DC boost converter (to adjust from 5v to whatever the car battery optimum charging voltage should be). Is there something out there that can do this? And what voltage should I step up to? 15v? 13.8v? 12v?
- a charge controller unit that can shut the charging off when the battery is full, prevents the car battery discharging into the solar panel and ideally does clever things to change the charging rate depending on how full the battery is.
I don't have a soldering kit with me so I'd prefer to get something that is plug and play (i.e. a USB connector at one end to connect into the solar panel & a dual cigarette lighter socket / direct battery connection at the other).
I've searched ebay and amazon and am struggling to find the right units to do this job.
Can anyone help out by telling me if this idea is a waste of time, and if not, by pointing me to the right bits to purchase?
Thanks very much!!!!
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