Solar Panel Volts
how many volts does a solar panel in a garden light produce?
how many volts does the solar panel in a solar garden light. just the panel. alone and if you know how many amps.
(10pts. best answer)
this is the size of the panel
http://www.siliconsolar.com/shop/solarimages/MoonLight-Series-Solar-garden-Light_d1.jpg
When you take these apart you usually find two AA or AAA sized Rechargeable batteries (typically Ni Cad) Ni cad’s are 1.25V ea (x2 = 2.5V) the solar cells have to produce more than the battery voltage in order to charge the batteries. So at least 3.0 Vdc. Output will vary with the amount of sun light and direction the cells are facing relative to the sun. With the batteries connected and charging you may expect to find 3 to 4 volts. The surface area of these cells are pretty small so I would expect to see no more than 75mA to 100ma charging current in full sun and probably 50mA on average. (And this is being optimistic)
The load of the batteries being charged helps to limit the solar cell out put. When you disconnect the batteries or use a very small load you may expect to see several additional volts being produced… (No load voltage will be higher)
There are a lot of iff’s and unknowns here as you do not know the configuration of the cells on the light. What looks like one cell is actually be many individual cells connected in a series / parallel combinations to achieve the voltage and current required by the application.
Most of these lights use LED’s (2 or 3) which draw 10 to 15mA each at fill brightness. And as the battery voltage drops during the night so does the current draw. The point I am trying to make is that not a hole lot of power is being generated during the day to keep a couple of LED’s glowing for a few hours.
How to Install Solar Panels : Solar Panel Voltage Testing Meters
|
|
Sundanzer Solar-Powered Refrigerator – 1.8 Cubic ft 24.5inL x 27.5inW x 36.5inH High efficiency Sundanzer solar-powered 12-volt DC freezer provides exceptionally low energy consumption and durability, requiring less expensive power systems and providing lower operational costs. Can run on a 110-watt solar panel, 100 AH 12V deep-cycle battery and 10 Amp charge controller (not included) in most areas. Some situations may require more power depending on ambient temperature, inte… |