Solar battery charging

[Joseph T]

I have a game camera that uses a 6volt rechargeable lantern battery and I have a small 6 volt solar panel to charge the battery. The solar panel is 3 1/2 inches wide and 6 inches long and has a open circuit voltage of 9.25 volts in full sun light I have no idea of the current output. The problem I have is it seems that the small solar panel cannot keep up the battery. However I have 2 of these panels and was wondering if I hooked them up in parallel so as to keep the 6 volt output but doubling the current output if that would help keep the battery charged. I was also wondering about any pros and cons of doing such a thing somebody please hit me with the knowledge stick.   

[Bruce S]

The size given means it may be a panel that only has 0.250A  or less going into the battery.
If the battery is a large Ah battery it will take hours for it to charge.
YES, you can hook two in parallel to get a higher charging rate, BUT there are other things to consider when you do this.
Plz post extra info. Battery Ah rating, solar panel manufacturer if possible, otherwise look on the back and let us know if there's a label with info on it.
and info of the other panel as well.
Do you have a digital meter that has Amp settings on it? there is a way to do some testing of a charge going to the 6V battery.
 

[Joseph T]

The info on the back of the solar panel in faded out so I can't provide any info other than what I have already. The battery is a 6 volt 4.6 amp hour lantern battery and no I don't have a meter that I can measure current with

[birdhouse]

bruce is far better with these things than i, but i'm wondering if there is even a charge controller involved, or maybe the panel is small enough that it never has the opertunity to overcharge the battery?? 

i just recently started using the "battery tender" brand solar charge controller for an excavator i recently purchased.  i popped a 40w panel on the roof so i wouldn't kill the $130 battery i just bought for it.  winters at my ranch are long, and my machine is old, thus needing a very strong battery to actually start her.  so far it has worked very well! 

you can get those charge controllers for ~$25 on ebay.  even a 10w panels would easily solve your needs for ~$20. 

not sure if you want to be spending fifty bucks to keep your game camera running, but it would do it for sure. 

nix all that, just realized you're looking for 6V!   

adam

[Bruce S]

IF you have even cheap a $3 digital meter that reads voltages then yes you do have a meter that will read current not much more than 10A max, but it will indeed read current. When you can, post a picture of the meter you have, we can then talk you through the correct settings to get current readings. We've helped people do this a few times  .
Could you post pics of the front and back of the panels?
Also , could you let us know what type of battery this is, NiCd, NiMH, Lithium , a pic would help too.
I'm thinking with that size battery it's possible lead based or a RC style battery pack.
Birdhouse. U do have it correct for your setup! and yes Ebay can certainly help with getting some pretty useful stuff.
GHurd's charge controller could possibly help, but I've not heard of him dropping to output to 6Vdc.

The 10W 12Vdc panel would also work, as the battery would hold the panel down to its voltage until it started getting charged, then it could be a problem with overcharging  .
However, since he has the two panels and IF they are the same size, I would hazard a rough guess they are about 6V 2Watt panels, given the size posted and output averages for these size panels. So with these two panels and IF they are the same, they could already have blocking diodes built in which makes life easier.
So given that the battery is 6V 4.6A then with the two panels working in parallel, it would take a good 7 hours of direct sunlight to completely recharge the battery from a 100% dead battery.

[dnix71]

9.25v will ruin a 6v battery if the battery is fully charged. Otherwise the battery will load down the solar panel. You need some kind of voltage regulation, even if it's just a simple zener circuit. If you have voltage regulation, then both panels in parallel should work.

[Joseph T]

IF you have even cheap a $3 digital meter that reads voltages then yes you do have a meter that will read current not much more than 10A max, but it will indeed read current. When you can, post a picture of the meter you have, we can then talk you through the correct settings to get current readings. We've helped people do this a few times  .
Could you post pics of the front and back of the panels?
Also , could you let us know what type of battery this is, NiCd, NiMH, Lithium , a pic would help too.
I'm thinking with that size battery it's possible lead based or a RC style battery pack.
Birdhouse. U do have it correct for your setup! and yes Ebay can certainly help with getting some pretty useful stuff.
GHurd's charge controller could possibly help, but I've not heard of him dropping to output to 6Vdc.

The 10W 12Vdc panel would also work, as the battery would hold the panel down to its voltage until it started getting charged, then it could be a problem with overcharging  .
However, since he has the two panels and IF they are the same size, I would hazard a rough guess they are about 6V 2Watt panels, given the size posted and output averages for these size panels. So with these two panels and IF they are the same, they could already have blocking diodes built in which makes life easier.
So given that the battery is 6V 4.6A then with the two panels working in parallel, it would take a good 7 hours of direct sunlight to completely recharge the battery from a 100% dead battery.

I have a fluke 12 multimeter and no where in the instructions does it say any thing about measuring current. It details how to check for AC/DC volts, Resistance, Capacitance, Diodes and a few other things but amp draw is not one of them. The other meter I had that did measure amps finally died after many years of heavy use.

[Bruce S]

Ahh forgot about those from Fluke. Since the other one died only thing I can think of if you really want to know the current of these panels is to head to a Harbor Freight , if there's one close, OR any place even Radio Shack, pick up a meter the $3 units will work just fine. Use the Amp function per its instructions.
Otherwise go with the knowledge that yes you can recharge the battery with both panels in parallel but it's going to take hours for the panel(s) to recharge the battery.
IF you do head to a electronics store, even the surplus stores, purchase a diode,  a cheap 1n4004, will work a Schotty ones would be better neither should cost more than $1. Put this with the band going towards the battery, between the Negative side of the panel(s) to the Negative side of the battery, this will help keep the battery from draining into the panel(s) when the sun goes down.
STILL would like to know battery type

[mab]

Put this with the band going towards the battery, between the Negative side of the panel(s) to the Negative side of the battery

errr... I think if the diode's in the negative lead, the band should be toward the panel?

[Bruce S]

Mab;
You are correct!! my bad  .
Thanks for catching that

[Joseph T]

Well I pulled the back off of the panel today and it has a blocking diode already it just seems that it is not big enough to keep up with the demand.

[tecker]

 If that diode is across the +- leads line out your looking a active bypass diode pick out a crimp a diode to the positive lead .