Greetings and Sunny Southern Salutations,
This is my first post after a multi-year ban, plus a self imposed exile until some moderator changes occurred. I promise to play nice with everyone, and I'll try to be even tempered with the playground bullies this time..
With the price per watt of solar finally getting into the affordable range (for me anyway) and the fact that Home Depot actually has a pretty decent selection of Grape Solar mono & poly panels that are delivered free with no minimum order, I decided to go for it. I've been collecting parts and pieces for a while now, with the intention of fabricating a Traxle style tracking mount. I've acquired a small 24V 54rpm gearmotor off of ebay ($13) and have ordered a 24V LED tracking module from Duane at Redrock ($39). I have two of the 235W poly panels shown below that I wish to charge a small 24V NiCd bank (20 85Ah 1.2V cells) with. The only use of this bank will be to power a 12V 17A(max) pump roughly 15 minutes an hour for a small off grid aquaponics system. I had planned on tapping the bank for 12V at different locations every few days to keep the cells from too much uneven discharge, or else use a
Pyle PSWNV480 24V DC to 12V DC Power Step Down 480 Watt Converter which is economical enough from a dollar standpoint, but apparently has a fairly high current draw when not in use, and I'm not sure if it would handle repeated start-up current surges from the pump motor. I've cut n' pasted the panel's particulars below for reference, if anyone see's any sizing issues (or other potential problems) with this setup, I would be grateful if you pointed them out. Thanks, Gus
Cell Size (6.14†x 6.14â€)
Module Dimension (LxWxT) (65.0†x 38.9†x 1.6â€)
No. of Cells 6 x 10 = 60
Weight (44.1 lbs)
Type of Connector MC-IV
urgesJunction Box IP65
Details
Max System Voltage 1000V / 600V
Max Peak Power Pmax 235 W (0% / +3%)
CEC PTC Listed Power 210.4 W
Maximum Power Point Voltage Vmpp 30.1 V
Maximum Power Point Current Impp 7.81 A
Open Circuit Voltage Voc 37.2 V
Short Circuit Current Isc 8.35 A