portable solar rig

[ZooT]

I built this rig for deer hunting camp, and I'd like if folks can give any suggestions for improvements.

here's some pics and I'll give a breif description of each.

This is the complete rig consisting of two parts the panel array and rack, and the electrical box

The electrical box containg the two 7ah SLA batteries, the charge controller, the main wiring harness/outlet box and the LED lights I've built

This is a little better picture of the wiring harness/outlet box that has three unswitched outlets, and a single switched outlet.

This box will be mounted to the wall next to the door of the trailer, and the switched outlet will turn on the light over the table, the other three lights have switches mounted in them.

Just a pic with the lights plugged in and turned on.

The LED light are UFO LED's being driven at 3.5vf at 30ma and each "light" has a dual array of three, making six LED's per light......very bright.

The light housing are made out of an electrical tape container, and some cheapo "faux tupperware" containers I bought at the local dollar store for a dollar a dozen.

They all have two sided tape on the back for easy(ie:lazy) mounting, and there's roll of masking tape in there to "conceal" the wiring.(remember it's for a hunting camp and doesn't have to be pretty)

They're rated at 3.5-4vf at 50ma.....but I'm underdriving them as per suggestions I've read both here and elsewhere.

This is the back side of the array rack......it's a cheapo saw horse I bought at "Big Lots" for 8 dollars.

The panels are held on by a handful of heavy rubber bands, but might get some additional duct tape if need be......

I'm not using the LVD feature of the charge controller, because for some reason or another, it just won't run all four lights at the same time even though the entire array only eats 280ma and 3400mW(?)

[gotwind2]

How about this ZooT, a complete portable power solution. just point it into the sun, and maybe buy a good padlock to avoid theft!

The 80w solar panel is mounted to a standard sack truck, via a couple of welded brackets - Panel angle adjustable by a notched arm stay either side.

The battery and inverter are mounted on the foot plate, as in picture - works a treat.

[ghurd]

Too Cool!  I love it!

"any suggestions for improvements" OK.

Rubber bands don't like sunlight. The one on my lawn mower carb... Oh, never mind.

Maybe add a pot to the light in the main or bathroom area? Like 10K linear.

A dozen MCDs helps in total darkness in an unfamiliar place. 2 or 3ma won't be missed.

Or add another 3 LED array at 1 or 2ma?

What kind of controller?

'One size fits all' can overcharge little SLAs.  But in a hunting camp, in fall and winter, low temps and no temp compensation, it should be fine.  I'd be a bit concerned for unattended summer use.

LVD shutting it down. Are the SLAs used? They may not be up to snuff in the AH area.

No worries, most of mine are not too good either, and have not been for a long time.

Just for giggles, measure the PV into the battery.  A steep angle like that really reduces PV output around here in winter.  Maybe a hinge at the top and a flip out to hold them flatter?  Might not matter much because mine reaches regulation voltage pretty quick anyway.

The plastic over the LEDs cuts down on the total light output, but it helps spread the light out in a more even and useable fashion. (more for other guy's who make one)

Cheap plastic tool box(?), great idea.  My ammo cans and switch guts rotted out, with wet (motorcycle) batteries.  

And nothing dumber than a battery in a steel box.

"Nice rack"  :-)

Were the LED ma measured?  Don't trust data sheets and internet math for Vf.

And because you are expecting it, I'll say 30ma is too much. It should last a few/lot of years in this application.

Are those the 'new' OBDII VW PVs by ICP?  What is the output into a low battery?

Do they seem made OK?

It reminds me I should be bow hunting.  :-(

G-

[AbyssUnderground]

Nice setup. This is kind of what Im going to be doing for next year but on a slightly larger scale in the battery and equipment department. The panel will be small (5w as it stands at the moment) unless I can get a more efficient one at the same size cheaply.

Good work and nice pics :-) Keep it up!

[ZooT]

Yeah I know rubber bands don't like sunlight....but I think they'll last 9 days.....

Bathroom?.....er uh.....that's in it's own building....a little dedicated building

The controller is one of those cheapo TPS-545 controllers from e-bay....

It does  disconnect/shunt when the batteries hit 14.5vdc, and that was all I was interested in.

LVD is built into the controller, but there's something flakey there as even with a full charge the terminals marked "load" won't run even two of the "lights" without dimming.......seems like there's just not much getting through....so I've got the wiring harness connected direct to the batteries and it works fine...

I decided to use those slightly frosted containers for the light housings because those LED's produce a VERY harsh glarey light....and that little bit of frosting smooths it out a bit and seems to widen up the radius of light as well.

These are those little square LED's with two pairs of leads(like an IC has), and I like them because I can put them on the board with the leads sticking through and then bend the leads to anchor them while I solder them.....

Er uh.......I don't know how to measure ma except short circuit ma yet......I'm a machinist not an electronic technician 8^P

Yeah they're the new OBD2 panels and they're supposed to be 4 watt panels, got a pair for $20 each on e-bay with free "economy" shipping after I contacted the guy.

They short circuit at 280-300ma if I hold them "just right" at noon

The panels seem to be well made but the wires do get stiff in the cold.......

The batteries came out of a pair of HP UPS units that I normally have behind a pair of headless servers(a big disk array) in the next room here, so they're not new....but they're far from dead as they work great for this project, and I've already let the lights run for 24 hours with no signs of dimming.......After deer hunting they'll be going back into the UPS units....

I've got one of those HF 45 watt rigs and a xantrex C-35 and a 30volt ametek wind genny with all the goodies to set everything up sitting here, but to be truthful I want to go up north and hunt deer and get drunk with all the friends I only get to see once a year....I don't want to spend all week working.....so I conjured up this portable rig so I can do what I want to do instead of what I should be doing evil grin

[ZooT]

(chuckling) that panel alone is worth more than my entire rig........and my car

But it is neat....

[badmoonryzn]

Here are two sites with good battery prices one for lead acid and one for NIMH,NICAD and LION I believe I saw some 7-12s for 7 bucks.

http://www.ragebattery.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?LNG=en-US&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NP7-12&
amp;Category_Code


"http://www.supremebattery.net/index.php">http://www.supremebattery.net/index.php


Badmoon

[badmoonryzn]

What have I done? I sure messed up that post??

I too have built some LED bulbs and I added a green, a blue and a red to four whites for some warmth. They look pretty good indoors but need some difusion to reduce the glare. Nothing scientific, but I do not like the harsh color of the white LEDs so I added some.

Badmoon

[badmoonryzn]

LOL

80 watts, man it must be nice to be rich. I'm waiting for the photo process panels to cost what they were shooting for. I read they were to be 20% of the others. Yea sure, I guess they forgot once they found they could charge just about as much as the grown silicone ones. Oh well, maybe next time.

Badmoon