burronazul
New Member
Hi,
This is my first post, I hope I am not braking any rules.
I own a Prius and I am looking to add a second battery to it. I am planning on hacking into the built in 60w solar panel, and add an mppt charger, 100ah Lifepo4 battery, and dc/dc charger with voltage sensitivity or a relay to only charge from the alternator when the car is on.
I already got an MPPT charger from amazon. 10ah ( more than enough for the 60w panel}. Battery I can either buy, or build from cells. However, the dc/dc charger is becoming a problem. I want to keep my setup as economic as posible. I built a van and got the renogy 50amp charger, thst is MPPT and dc/dc, while also maintains my main battery charged. it is what i need, but for the prius project I was looking to get something smaller and way cheaper.
every dc/dc charger I have looked at is either too expensive, or does not provide the 14.6v for lifepo4. I was also looking at a dc converter to bump the voltage from 13.4a (alternator) to 14.6. however, it will not provide a charging profile)
questions are
why are mppt chargers $10, and dc chsrgers $80?
is there a small dc chager someone recommends? preferably 20amps, but i can probably do 10a or less.
This is my first post, I hope I am not braking any rules.
I own a Prius and I am looking to add a second battery to it. I am planning on hacking into the built in 60w solar panel, and add an mppt charger, 100ah Lifepo4 battery, and dc/dc charger with voltage sensitivity or a relay to only charge from the alternator when the car is on.
I already got an MPPT charger from amazon. 10ah ( more than enough for the 60w panel}. Battery I can either buy, or build from cells. However, the dc/dc charger is becoming a problem. I want to keep my setup as economic as posible. I built a van and got the renogy 50amp charger, thst is MPPT and dc/dc, while also maintains my main battery charged. it is what i need, but for the prius project I was looking to get something smaller and way cheaper.
every dc/dc charger I have looked at is either too expensive, or does not provide the 14.6v for lifepo4. I was also looking at a dc converter to bump the voltage from 13.4a (alternator) to 14.6. however, it will not provide a charging profile)
questions are
why are mppt chargers $10, and dc chsrgers $80?
is there a small dc chager someone recommends? preferably 20amps, but i can probably do 10a or less.