diy solar

diy solar

I'm Making a Portable Solar Generator & Need Solar Panel Recommendations

reg

Winter: New York City Summer: Atlantic Canada
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
336
I'm in the last stages of putting together a portable source of DC and AC electricity consisting of:

Battery (12V, 40Ah LiFeMgPO4, Lithium Werks U-Charge U1-12RT with built-in battery management system)
Inverter (12V, 300W Morningstar SureSine)
Battery charger (12V, 10 amp Victron IP65)

My main objective was to make a portable power source for filmmaking equipment, lights in particular. Weight was a significant consideration, hence the 40Ah battery. It's an experiment, but right now I think that this setup is an interesting, cost-effective alternative to the V-mount and Gold-mount lithium-ion batteries that filmmakers usually use.

I have additional uses for portable power for which more battery capacity and solar collection would be desirable. I plan to purchase an additional battery, either another of about 40Ah or a 100Ah; also, a Victron or Morningstar charger/controller and a single solar panel.

I'm inclined to purchase a rigid panel. The reading that I've done on flexible panels doesn't inspire confidence. However, all of the rigid panels that I've looked at are roughly 1.5m x 1m (60" x 40"). I can live with that if necessary, but I'd like to identify one that is well made, but somewhat smaller. Panasonic makes a smaller panel that's sold in Europe, but it doesn't appear to be available in the U.S. or Canada.

My thinking about this is influenced by a point that Dave Jones makes in yesterday's EEV Blog video (link below). He makes the observation that residential panels are all about the same size, and says that the differences between panels in output is basically about how efficient a panel is. Apparently, efficiency has been increasing. Good. I'd be delighted to pay more per watt for a very efficient panel, but I'd like a smaller one, please :)

I'm not particularly price-sensitive on this. Is there a well made panel that would fit the bill that I've missed?

Dave Jones's new video:

295W Inverter vs 370W Solar Panel - WTF?

 
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I'm building a small solar generator for car camping/ham radio use, and mostly to dip my toe into solar and battery learning, figure this is a good way to get started.

I picked up a 50w panel off of amazon, somewhat at random without doing too much research. "Rich Solar" brand: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07FN9LS37 I'm happy with the size, for my usage. On my Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75V/10A controller it does pretty well, I think (I don't have anything to compare it to, or experience), been getting 5-10w with total overcast and up to 45w in full sun.

I'm a little iffy on the Victron SmartSolar, it doesn't seem to 'break out' of charge mode when I think it should i.e it's still trying to charge even when panel voltage is down around 15v and it's getting 0A out, and seems to be draining the battery. I've only had it running for a few days, so will be watching that.
 
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