Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Steven Silva
4 Posts
Dec 21, 2006 12:37 pm
Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Greetings,

I'm a newbie to all this, so please bear with me. I just ordered a Global Solar Accessory Kit from Altenergystore. All of the connectors for the various parts of this kit are described as "SAE connectors."

Where does a charge controller fit into this SAE connector picture, since I have been through nearly every controller offered on this site and not one mentions this type of connector, and few mention anything at all about how it connects either to the solar panel or the battery being charged.

It would really be nice if a controller exists with both incoming and outgoing SAE connections, so hooking the controller to the solar panel (incoming) and (outgoing) to any attachment of choice which ultimately ends at the 12V battery terminals or AA battery charger's power in connection will literally be a "snap."

Is it clear what I am talking about? Does such a charge controller exist? It seems to me they should all be made that way for the sake of "univerality," but instead I find either no mention at all how the controller connects, or references to connections of which I have no knowledge.

Any light you can throw on the subject will be much appreciated.

regards,

Stevenjs
_______________________________
"I am but an egg."
--Stranger in a Stange Land
 
 
James Cormican
578 Posts
Dec 21, 2006 01:58 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & ou

hi,

this is the charge controller global solar wants you to use.  it isn't listed with the rest of the gang because of the sae connectors that are useless to everyone else.  in order to find it you could have searched by brand under "global solar" in the store section.

http://store.altenergystore.com/Global-Solar/m30/Solar-Electric-Panels/Foldable-Solar-Panels/Global-Solar-Cigs-Technology/Accessories-for-Global-Solar-Products/Global-Solar-7-amp-Charge-controller-for-P3/p559/

now as far as the AA batteries, that may be tricky.  I believe brian was working on this for you from an earlier email. let me know if i can help more on that.

the charge controller is designed to regualate charging input and prevent reverse current from FLA, AGM, and GEL batteries.

-james Alt-E staff
AltE
"Making Renewable Do-able"
http://www.altEstore.com/

Tel: 877.878.4060 x107  or +1.978.562.5858 x107
Fax: 877.242.6718  or +1.978.562.5854
 
 
Ken Hall
351 Posts
Dec 21, 2006 02:40 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

What is the AA battery charging problem?

Camera shops sell battery chargers (generally for AA Nickel Metal Hydride batteries) that come with both 110v and 12v dc power supply cords. The 12vdc has a cigarette lighter type connector.

So, other than a charger/battery type incompatability,(eg attempting to charge ni-cads in a NIMH charger) I don't see what the problem is.

Ken
 
 
James Cormican
578 Posts
Dec 21, 2006 03:02 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & ou

rock!

thank you ken.  i learned something new today.  I did not realize 12v battery chargers were available for AA batteries.

camera store you say, eh?  hmm, maybe I'll switch my discman bats to 12v recharge mode instead of 120vac recharge mode in the future.

james Alt-E staff
AltE
"Making Renewable Do-able"
http://www.altEstore.com/

Tel: 877.878.4060 x107  or +1.978.562.5858 x107
Fax: 877.242.6718  or +1.978.562.5854
 
 
Steven Silva
4 Posts
Dec 23, 2006 10:38 am
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Thank you for pointing the SAE controller out to me.

I realize the more common use is with 12V battery tending, but in addition to that use, I intend to use the solar panel with an iSun BattPak,which uses a solar panel to charge up to 10 AA's at atime, and doubles as a power output source for various devices, one adds or removes AA's to power the range of 3.6V to 12V devices. The panel intended for use with the BattPak is lower wattage than the 5w I have with the SAE connector, but costs about the same.

I am not sure a controller is at all necessary with the BattPak, since there is some kind of elementary control built into it, which reduces the charge to trickle at some point in the charging. Perhaps someone could shed light on that. But I figured I'd need it for sure with the 12V battery application, and it wouldn't hurt as insurance with the BattPak, given the vulnerability of nimh's to overcharge and the high price of nimh's.

Again, thank you all who responded.

regards,

Stevenjs
__________________________
"I am but an egg."
--Stranger in a Strange Land
 
 
Ken Hall
351 Posts
Dec 23, 2006 01:30 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Steven:

What type of loads are you going to have on your 12V battery(s)?

A 5W panel is best for maintaining a charge, offsetting the self discharge. It can replace very small draws. But it will only give you about 13 amphours a week, under the best conditions. At this time of year, it will be less. Maybe 8-9 amphours, depending where you live.

If you use the panel for 7 hours of full sun charging AA batteries (2-3 days), that does not leave a bunch of power for the 12V system. Maybe 5 amphours.

Ken
 
 
Steven Silva
4 Posts
Dec 23, 2006 02:36 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Ken,

Thanks for responding.

No, I don't expect to use them for both purposes at the same time.

The 12V application is just to keep the battery from dying when not in use, which is most of the time. The 12V battery will run a small outboard motor. I may actually get a second panel for this. 5w is adequate, no?

As for the BattPak charger, the 5w is double the wattage of the solar panel they market as a companion for it, so I would expect very efficient charging there.

Though the Battpak switches over to trickle at some point, they still warn about not leaving batteries in for more than 24 hours, though they don't specify whether this applies to AC charging only or solar charging as well.

Do you think the controller will help prevent an overcharge using the 5w panel? I'd hate to ruin 10 nimh's should I forget to remove them.

regards,

Stevenjs
_____________________________
"I am but an egg."
 
 
Ken Hall
351 Posts
Dec 23, 2006 06:47 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Steven:

I haven't used the battbak charger, so I can just make some educated guesses based on info I've seen on the internet.

I suspect that using the larger panel is not going to improve the 7 hours of charging time, which I assume is 7 full sun hours. I think the charger is only going to accept the charge at about 250mA per cell in the charger. Excess power will just drive the panel voltage up a bit.
What the extra power will do, is prevent the charge time from extending due to dust on the panel, an overcast, etc.

The 24 hour limit in the charger is for AC charging. Leaving the cells in too long on trickle charge can heat damage them. On solar power, you would have leave them in several days to accumulate that amount of time and they will have a chance to cool down overnight. so it shouldn't be a problem. I would still attempt to unplug the panel within a reasonable time period of the charging being complete, but I would not not worry about them.

The controller will be of more use with the 12V system.

Ken

« Last Edit: Dec 23, 2006 06:55 pm by ken hall »
 
 
Steven Silva
4 Posts
Dec 23, 2006 07:06 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Thanks! Your educated guesses make excellent sense. I am much re-assured. I did hope the bigger panel would speed things up though. Still, if it at least compensates for cloud cover, that's something.

So I take it the controller in the Battpak setup wouldn't be needed at all. I'm still curious what effect,if any, it would have.

I also wish I knew more about the relationships of mA, watts, amps and voltage. Is there an "electric current for dummies" site you could recommend? I'm a big fan of solar, but don't understand the tech speak.

Thanks again!

regards,

Stevenjs
__________________________
--Stranger in a Strange Land
 
 
Ken Hall
351 Posts
Dec 24, 2006 06:24 pm
Re: Solar Charge Controllers - Is one made with standard "SAE connector" in & out??

Steven:

You should probably start with the "how-to" tab at the top of the page. Then click "the basics". Within the list that comes up, you can select "electricity basics".

There is a lot of good info located under the "how-to" tab, but many people seem unaware of it.

Ken

 
 

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