PV Gap

Leo Said:

Would my solar cell setup work?

We Answered:

1) 8 Amp-hr battery holds 8 amps for 1 hour or 1 amp for 8 hours worth of charge. That means 0.125 amp will charge it in 64 hours. But in reality it will be over 100 hours due to losses. That's 65-100 hours of bright sunlight with the sun directly perpendicular to the solar cell.

Batteries have leakage current. If that is, for example, 10mA, that subtracts from the charging current and adds to the charge time.

2) 8 amp hr battery x 12 v = 96 watt-hrs. that means a 65 watt load will last 1.5 hours (96/65), but subtract 20% for inverter losses (more if your design is not as good as a commercial one) and you get 1.2 hours.


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