So I got some solar panels which i set them in a way to give me 10v and 2A directly for sun light
but in the past i never used solar panels so I'm new in that kind of domain (solar power).
if we use direct solar panel with my motor, in case of clouds the
motor will slow down but what i need it a circuit in between which gonna charge 1st then give power to the motor to spin at 100% even if there is clouds.
Now other way is to charge a battery from solar panels and then give the power to the motor but is that safe to charge a battery over and over for a lot of hours which that battery can be a LiPo?
Yes i know that in need a cell regulator / balance charger but in the moment you charge a battery you can't
use it, my point is to get the max power of the solar panels as a regular battery do.
If i use the motor directly from the solar panel the motor will suck all the current and get only what's the solar panels give in the exact moment and time but i need something in between that will make it constant power
like a regulator, a circuit that will store the voltage/current for a small period of time and while the motor will suck it from it mean while the solar panel will keep charging the circuit.
You need a battery between the Solar panels and the load.
Solar panels act like current sources and are not suitable for directly powering anything that needs a constant voltage.
Solar Panels charge the battery, connect the load / motor to the battery.
Depending on what type of battery you use, then you may need some kind of charge controller between the Solar Panels and the battery.
A suitable sized panel and regulator can charge the battery while running the motor. If the motor sucks all the power, the panel is too small.
If you simply want to use only solar power and the speed is not important, you can use a maximiser. This is a small circuit that switches the motor off and on according to the charge on a capacitor.
In low light, there is enough current to feed into the C but not enough power to run the motor. Once the C charges, it has enough power to run the motor for a short time, then switches off and the C recharges.
As the sun gets brighter the pulses become more often and the motor runs continuously. If the panel brims temporarily, the motor slows down.
LiPo is a poor choice of battery for this application. Do you absolutely need the light weight? Even a small lead-acid battery can handle big motor currents and outrageous overcharging.
Work out what power (watt-hours) you need from the motor over 24 hours.
Then work out how much power you will get out of your panel in one sunny day in winter.
Add 20-100% more solar panel to allow for inefficiencies in the battery charging and cloudy days.
Then work out how long you want it to run for with protracted cloudy days and get a battery big enough to run the motor on its own for this long.
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Depending on what type of battery you use, then you may need some kind of charge controller between the Solar Panels and the battery.
I wanna use a LiPo but as i know LiPo need stable / balanced charging so they can't be charged and give power in the same time.
weedpharma
If you simply want to use only solar power and the speed is not important, you can use a maximiser. This is a small circuit that switches the motor off and on according to the charge on a capacitor.
Sadly i need the motor to run constantly at 100% while there is sun.
MorganS
LiPo is a poor choice of battery for this application. Do you absolutely need the light weight? Even a small lead-acid battery can handle big motor currents and outrageous overcharging.
Yes i need to be light weight, I choose LiPo because they can give a really high current and they are light weight.
**-**I need a constant 20 watts (10v * 2A = 20Watts) and the motor will run only while there is sun.
**-**In the winter the power of the solar panels will be running than half 60%~75%
**-**In a cloudy day if the there gonna be less coming power from the solar panels then I can speed down the motor (that will not be a problem) but in anyway i need the motor to run at max % if possible.
**-**I need the motor to run minimum 1~2 hours and max 5+ hours a day.
ps (I pick LiPo because i need a light weight construction, if you have any ideas share please)
Domino60:
ps (I pick LiPo because i need a light weight construction, if you have any ideas share please)
Tell us at least why?
And when you are at it, tell us what you want to do (instead of what you think you need). What is de motor driving? Will the load change? etc
LiPo is a lot harder in this case. Lead acid is very easy to do.
And you say your motor draws 20V 2A (aka 20W) and the solar panels are that as well. So that's not going to work, there is no overhead to charge the battery. The motor will only drain the battery.
And you say your motor draws 20V 2A (aka 20W) and the solar panels are that as well. So that's not going to work, there is no overhead to charge the battery. The motor will only drain the battery.
The solar panels are 20W and the motor draw at 100% same but i can put the motor at 70% of power
that will be good too.
LiPo is a lot harder in this case. Lead acid is very easy to do.
I need a easy portable construction that will be light weight, Lead acid are easy to work but they are like 1kg~5kg only the battery. I need everything to be under few grams to be easy to handle.
And when you are at it, tell us what you want to do
Just a solar panels that are able to power up a motor in an exact time of the day for few hours, the use of
the motor can be anything, pump water if u are farmer, cool down the house with a fan, power up the fish tank to clean the water. There is different kid of use in my case. For now I just wanna power up a motor for few hours a day.
But in this case you may say if it's just for few hours a day that's easy you go the battery and will work while the motor runs and power up again after that. But what if the battery goes down and i still need to run the motor?!
I have an idea using solar panels and 2 lipo which gonna work like while the motor runs from the 1st battery and the battery goes down the motor automaticaly get power from the 2nd battery and the 1st battery start charging from solar panels.
Just FYI - check how much you can ACTUALLY get from the solar panel.
Solar panel specs are grotesquely optimistic IME. The 10v 2A is at the equator at high noon with ultra clear skies and everything perfect.
I need 10v 2A so in this case if the solar panels will not give me that voltage i will add extra, I'm making my own array/matrix/parallel/series crystal solar panels.
If you used a lead acid battery, you could power the motor right from the battery while it's charging, which is why people keep suggesting it.
For LiPo, you need an appropriate charge controller - they make dedicated chips for this exact purpose, since it's such a common use case. I can't recommend any particular one - I haven't dug deep enough beyond just noticing that things like that existed (as they must, since like, nearly every electronic device we own does this :-P)
Actually yeah, good point polymorph. Lithium batteries permanently lose capacity when stored at 100% charge for extended periods of time. That's laptops that are plugged in all the time always have battery problems after a year or two.
Time durability 24-36 months
Cycle durability >1000 cycles
Well, I personally don't care about the life time of the Li-Po so I have a li-po an i wanna use it.
Any ideas about the circuit between them, solar panel/motor? I know few people may think it's better to use other kind of batteries but in my case I have Li-Po.
Look the power of solar panels will be 20W if the power will not be 20w i will add extra solar panels to be 20w so in any case we skip that question because is answered.
20w solar panels in any kind of situation
The problem now is how to make the 20w solar power to run a motor.
If you want to run a motor (eg. a water pump), the arduino can check the voltage built up in the battery by the solar panel regulator. If it is above a set level, turn the pump on. If the voltage on the battery gets below a set level, turn the pump off. Have a time delay between on and off (maybe 20 seconds).
