Portable solar chargers

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So it's time to look at earthquake prep again. Specifically I'm looking for a charging solution that can handle wheelchair recharge. I need something that can reliably put 35 amp hours into a 24 volt power pack for a wheelchair over the course of a day. So it seems like 120 watts is possible but iffy depending on weather. 160-200 seems more reliable. I could get a gas powered generator but storage is super tight. Need the ability to fold flat, and if it has a built in controller, then it needs to have somewhere I can use to hook up a 4 pin din adapter. Anyone have any experience, brands to look for/avoid, etc? I grok basic electric, but definitely not an expert.

Re: Portable solar chargers

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Search for RV or marine solar systems. They may be a little overkill but you'll be able to get an idea of everything you might need and the wiring involved. Some of the emergency systems you see are geared towards phones and PCs and could be small for your application. They may still work though.

The size of the system speeds up the charging of the batteries. Watts = Volts x Amps. Voltage typically stays the same at 12, 24, or 48 V (for bigger batteries). So with a larger wattage the system develops more amps, and will therefore, charge batteries faster. You should be able to read the information off the batteries or charger to give you an idea of the recommended voltage/amps.

For example my laptop charger sitting here has an output of 19.5 V/6.7 A or 130 Watts. So a 130 Watt solar panel system could potentially charge it the same as the wall plug in. A 75 Watt solar system would take longer but would charge it as long as the output was at 19.5 V. I doubt I can find a 19.5 V solar panel so there will need to be a circuit design to adjust the voltages. I've used this online program in the past to build circuits. http://www.falstad.com/circuit/ I'm not an electrical engineer so I used google a lot.

Another set of batteries to switch out would allow the system to charge one set while using the other.
Brian

Re: Portable solar chargers

4
Yeah, I was definitely in the RV/Marine ranges. There were lots of good options for 12 volt. The 24 made it tricky. Unfortunately I couldn't find everything I needed in a pre-built package. Most of the portable folding systems were too small. The ones that had enough watts were either hard wired in parallel or had built in controllers that weren't flexible enough. So I'm just buying the parts and I will put them on a board myself. Not quite as nice for storage, but pretty inexpensive. $300 for 200 watts with controller and cables. That's insanely less than they were last time I was looking.

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