PV Gap

Jessie Said:

what is the diffrence between a solar panel charge controller and a wind turbine controller?

We Answered:

lets start with basics

the solar power supplies DC and it is running all morning, the power it supplies not as much as the wind turbine so the controller and the power it supplies mostly constant becasue the sun changes slowly

the wind turbine supplies AC with diffrent frequncy so it needs to be converted into DC then converted back to AC with 60 or 50 Hz frequency, the power it supplies much higher than the solar power and the wind changes frequently so the ammount of power it supplies isnt the same so that the controller needs to monitor that power in order to charge the batteries

Daisy Said:

Solar panel 50 watts to charge controller and 12 volt battery?

We Answered:

You didn't mention the inverter to provide mains 230AC from the battery. The Solar panel will not give 50 watts all day - at this time of year less then half. So assuming its summer, its bright sunshine, your panel will give 50 watts for 8 hours maybe. This means the battery can only give back 50 watts for 8 hours, less the losses from the mains inverter and charge controllers, which are not 100% efficient. So the setup just might run the fridge for about 2 hours and the heater for half an hour, assuming its a 1kw heater and that the inverter will cope with load.

Sonia Said:

solar panel 50 watts to controller charge with 12 volt battery?

We Answered:

The answer would depend largely on the ratings for the capacity of your battery, and the size of the loads you are trying to supply.

Most 12 volt car batteries will have a capacity rating of 70 amp/hours. That means that the battery is capable of delivering 1 amp for 70 hours. That would of course change, if you increase the amount of current being supplied to the load. For example, if your load draws 3.5 amps, your battery could only be expected to deliver 3.5 amps for about 20 hours - and so on. Keep in mind that if you are using a 120 volt inverter, 50 watts will only deliver 0.42 amps. The reverse is also true, for charging your battery. Your battery will only be capable of holding a charge, up to its rated limit. After that, it doesn't matter how long you continue to have your charger connected. You can always increase your capacity by connecting multiple batteries in parallel. Connecting them in parallel leaves the voltage the same but increases the amount of current by the number of batteries connected together.

Dorothy Said:

Would a10w solar panel w/7a charge controller be enough to charge battery to run a 2.7cf Haier fridge?

We Answered:

There is no way a little 10W panel can provide enough power for a fridge, even a small dorm fridge like that. I found a site that said it (or a similar model) uses 750 watt hours a day. Without taking any losses into account, an average day has 5 sun hours (number of hours equal to a standard test condition, not hours of sunlight). So on a sunny day, a 10W panel can produce 50 watt hours (5 hours x 10W), that's 700wh shy.

You would need at least a 200 watt panel.

As far as the batteries, you'd need about 100 amp hours. One 12V or two 6V in series doesn't matter, as long as they are deep cycle batteries designed for this like golf cart (not car batteries), it will work.

Lori Said:

5O watts solar panel with 100amp battery but the controller is not bringing out hight output its not powering?

We Answered:

Question is, what voltage and power is the radio you wish to power? If it is AC and either 120v or 230v you will need an inverter to convert the 12v to AC supply.

The fact that the controller is 120 Watts will not matter that you have a 50 Watt panel. It should still work and charge the battery. You should be able to put an ammeter in series with the power from the controller to the battery and see that it is charging in sunlight.