Loading small 12v battery

[Droiverd]

Hi All,

Iam a bit of a noob with electronics bit i hope there is someone that could help.

I have curtains on 5m height. They will move by a tube engine (12v). The engine is powered by a 12v li-ion 2550mAh. Everything Is behind hr++ glass.

Now the problem is that i have to charge the battery 2x a year with a ladder. My thought was that is was easier with a small solar panel behind the glass.

Can i just connect a 12v solar panel to the battery combined with the electricmotor? Of do i need a charge controller?

Thanks!

 

[meetyg]

Especially with lithium ion, I would recommend a proper charge controller, preferably MPPT.

 

[Droiverd]

Thanks for the reply, i can only find verry big and heavy mppts. Do they not take more power then the motor itself?

 

[efficientPV]

That is a pretty low consumption of less than 15mah a day. A battery like that probably doesn't have a BMS. I suspect the battery would age out before any balance conditions would present a problem. A small panel that could produce about 10ma at 14-16V would be sufficient with an isolation diode and a 14V 1W zener diode across the battery. Actual specifics of the battery to make actual recommendations.