Wiring a 12V Solar panel and an external power source (house outlet) together on a switch to power a 50W Radio?
by admin on Friday, September 2nd, 2011 | 3 Comments
Building a case that has 5 Handheld radios with a 50W mobile radio on the top. I have a 12V solar panel. Is it possible to wire the solar panel to the radio and put it on a switch so that you can change from uninterrupted power (house current) to the solar panel to power the radio? Looking for the easiest and cheapest way to do this.
solar panel should be used directly, depending on heat voltage may slightly vary so always use battery along with solar panel
solar panel will always be charging the battery
with the battery support u can use a uninterrupted power
using house power with battery charger to charge battery at home.
You have a battery basically. Probably a deep cycle marine or golf-cart type batter, maybe 100 to 150Ah.
The battery will have enough capacity to power your load for an adequate time, to power the mobile radio, and charge the hand held radios. Depending, you may need an inverter to run the chargers, but good handhelds should have 12V charging options. The radios would take their power from the battery continuously, regardless of AC power, solar power, or lack of either.
The AC supply and solar panel will basically be paralleled.
The AC will be a supply suitable to charge your battery type and power a load. A 10A 13.8V regulated supply will do most likely.
Solar might be 40W of panels (more if needed), and a charge controller.
If it were me, I would add a circuit that would give preference to solar charging of the battery.
The solar cells used by most calculators are also capable of powering LED bulbs up to 3 volts. While this may not sound like much power, 3-volt LED lights are bright enough to be used as a book light. Removing the solar cell from the calculator requires little more than a screwdriver and a pair of snips and can be done in less than 10 minutes.
Unscrew all of the visible screws on the calculator’s bottom panel (on its underside). You should be able to remove the external casing from the calculator after the screws are removed.
Cut the wires running from the solar panel to the main circuit board. You want to cut the wires close to the circuit board, leaving the longest lengths of wire possible. The longer the wires, the farther away from the LED you can place the solar cell. Strip about ½-inch of insulation from the cut end of the wires.