Steven Silva's posts

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,

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."

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

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