PV Gap

Corey Said:

A woman in Malawi talks about her solar system, her battery and her invader. What is an invader ?

We Answered:

"Her" solar system??????
It's MINE!

Jennifer Said:

Solar Battery System?

We Answered:

A solar panel is usually 36 cells and intended to charge a 12V lead acid battery. The battery in laptops may be somewhere between 15 and 20V. The panel might charge a laptop when it is cold, but they heat up in the sun and then it would no longer charge. Typical lap top power supplies are 3 to 4 amps. You need 2 panels in series to get enough voltage to charge the battery directly, but this is wasteful. If you want to charge at the same rate as a lap top power supply you need large panels to provide 5 amps. The 5 Amp panel will only give 5A when pointed directly at the full sun. There may be between 2 and 5 hours a day equivalent full sun depending where you are, time of year. If you want more than that, you need larger panels, or more than one in parallel for a 12V system.

It makes sense to charge a 12V battery with the solar panel, and use that to operate the lap top with a car type power supply for a laptop, which runs from a 12V battery (see link below for an example). Get the biggest panel you can afford, and the battery should be larger if you want to run the lap top when the sun isn't shining. Perhaps a 20AH battery is a minimum size.

All this costs more than a lap top.

Todd Said:

How can I regulate a 12v battery to only put out 1A or 600mA?

We Answered:

It doesn't work that way.

You need to supply the device the proper voltage and as long as your battery can supply the needed current, you are good to go as it will only draw as much as it needs.