Once again I have been mildly busy improving my Solar Power system.
I had increased the wire size running 110 feet (33m) from the Battery to my computer Desk which is where I am using all of my power at. Now there are Four 12 gauge wires making this run, 2 of them are Negative and the other 2 are Positive. I am told that two 12 gauge wires equals one 9 gauge wire, so lets call this wire a single pair of 9 gauge wires and they are fused for a max of 20 amps even though the wiring should be good for 40 amps. This is a 12 vdc system without an inverter.
I recently installed more solar panels so I needed to expand so I could use the extra power. Until now I had been distributing the power using this Switch Box with a terminal strip output, but this isn't enough anymore.
So I built this Power Distribution Box to give me multiple fused outputs to my different loads. This is mounted under my desk below the monitor. You can see the four 12 gauge wires coming from the battery into a terminal strip on the lower Righthand side. These 4 wires are then paralleled across two 24000mfd 50v capacitors. After that the Positive wires go through a 4 position Fuse Block and then I have provided 4 fused outputs on a Terminal strip. This box has made it incredibly easy to attach or try different loads on the 12vdc outputs, not to mention having the safety of the fuses now.
The Capacitors are to prevent power surges on the long 12 volt line to the battery by providing a little local power storage at the point where I'm using the power at. When I originally installed My Solar Power I had 2 lights, a fan and my DSL modem hooked up to the 4 original power switches.
I discovered that If the modem was on, and then I switched anything else on, the modem would Reset itself. So I installed a 20000mfd capacitor in the switchbox and the Reset problem disappeared. When I built this power box I increased the value to 48000mfd since I had the capacitors and I'm adding more loads.
The original 4-way switchbox under the desk is still being used and is hooked to one of the fused outputs. Another fused output goes to a second switchbox I made just for the room,lighting. I mounted this box out in the open on a corner of my desk so other people could easily see and use them. The lights I'm using are from the Harbor Freight solar kit and the ones you can get at Home Depot or Wal-Mart that run on 12vdc.
Also inside of this switchbox is a 9 Volt Regulator screwed to the box itself for heatsinking. This regulator is wired to the Charging Station for the Cordless phone in the picture. I also have some 9vdc computer speakers that I'm thinking about hooking this up to.
I hooked this plug strip to another Fused output. I bought this on eBay from HongKong for $6.oo shipped. It has 3 Car Cigarette Lighter Sockets and a 5vdc USB Charger output on it. This is extremely versatile allowing me to power up many items already made to work in cars. Right now I have a CB Radio plugged into a 12 volt socket and my cell phone is being charged off of the USB outlet.
Here is the DSL Modem that I was talking about earlier sitting on top of a 12vdc TV/Radio. On the Righthand side is a (new style) Harbor Freight Charge Controller. This is Not hooked up for battery charging, it's only hooked up as another power distribution box with a voltage readout on it. This box gives me another Cigarette Lighter socket and 2 straight 12 volt outputs. It also has regulated outputs at 9 volts, 6 volts, 3 volts and provides me another 5 volt USB charging output as well. I also have a DTV Converter box working now and an Analog Meter for battery voltage, these are not pictured
The picture is a bit Washed Out from the camera flash. The modem lights were on too.
Here is the rest of My Solar Power system
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2009/1/7/222041/6802
As you can see I am having Too Much Fun . . .
but now I need some more Solar Panels
