PV Gap

Annette Said:

Solar Panel - Battery Charger 12V?

We Answered:

If you want to run something from a solar panel, you should remember that the power from the panel is only available when there is reasonable sunshine on the panel. Usually the solar panels are used with solar regulators in order to charge batteries. These batteries are used as energy storage for when the sun is not shining.

Now, this does not mean that you cannot drive instruments directly from the solar panel and regulator. To do this, you will need a panel that has sufficient power to drive your instrument. An example is the solar powered garden or fountain pumps. I have driven 12V computer fans directly from the small solar panels - useful for cooling of things such as pool pump housings.

The solar regulator is used to convert the solar panel output to a 13.5V output in order to charge lead acid batteries. I have used MPPT regulators (maximum power point tracking) which is more efficient than the standard solar regulator. If you don't use these regulators you may find the solar panel producing up to 17-19V in good sunshine which is not good for your instruments that are expecting 12-13V. Hence the answer to your question is that you will need to have a battery being charged to get useful power from the solar panels via a solar regulator.

Josephine Said:

Hpw much power does a solar panel generate?

We Answered:

The mean solar constant is 1300 Watts/square meter. That is in the upper atmosphere, so we maybe only get about a third of that on the ground. Now figure about 50% efficiency of the panels is a maximum (I would be surprised if we could even get half that much with anything but NASA solar panels), so I would guess that on the best day, in the best location, with the best equipment you might get 220 W/m^2. This will be even lower in UK.
Just a ballpark, upper limit guess.

Felix Said:

What is the yellow board with a black vertical stripe situated next to UK roads?

We Answered:

It's hard to tell what you mean without seeing it, but it could easily be a solar panel or it could be a pipeline marker.

There are many solar panels by the side of main roads in the UK these days. They are used to power things like lights to illuminate road signs.

The fact that it isn't completely black leads me to think it might actually be a pipeline marker. These are basically coloured markers on top of poles that are placed above buried gas and petroleum pipelines.