Solar portable power station - Camping/Festivals

My new project and first HD video. Tried to record in 1080 with my new camera but for unknown reasons it would not save the files, so 720p will need to do.

I have built this portable power system to give me power when camping and at festivals. The systems available in shops seem to peak at 40Ah without spending silly amounts of money and so I built this 70Ah system which can take input from a solar panel up to 100w (though I plan to use a 20w panel due to price and size limits when camping) and will happily run a beer fridge, lighting and charge my mobile phone in the middle of nowhere.

Key specs:
* 3 x 12v 12Ah sealed lead acid batteries
* 1 x 12v 34Ah standard car battery
* 10 AWG wiring
* All wiring is crimped, soldered and heat shrunk for longevity
* 1 x high power output socket + 3 x low power output sockets (fused)
* 1 x auxiliary input/output set of posts (un-fused)

Category:

Education

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[mikealblack]

awesome man....so just a 20 watt solar panel yeah? and btw what do you think about a non monetary economy? cheers

[hippyraverocker]

@mikealblack

Yes, that was the limit I gave myself based on physical size but the setup could take up to 100w with that charge controller. No feelings on a non monetary economy.

[kvasilepton]

All battery that are connected in parallel should be the same type/size and the same age.

If they are different, you will limit their life the battery.

You should also connect the negative and positive of the load and charger to each side of the battery bank.

[hippyraverocker]

@kvasilepton

Hi, ideally yes the batteries should be the same capacity and age. In this case the batteries were free or had been left after being used before in my van, so it was worth linking them all together.

With the charging and draining of the bank from different ends I have heard this before on my bigger system but personally do not think it makes a major difference, at least not in a small system with thick cabling as whether it is wired one end or the other its the same conductor.

[randacnam7321]

@kvasilepton I have heard from people who have mixed batteries that as long as the cell chemistries and battery types are the same (i.e. only flooded or only gel, etc.) mixing is not much of an issue. Mixing flooded and gel batteries as done in the video can cause problems as the charging characteristics of each type are different.

[100roberthenry]

cool, check out the joule thief running cfls on 1.5- 3volts...you'lll be abvle to run them forever using that....good work man!...i'm a hippy too. :)

[mikealblack]

So then what is your final available output in watts...what is the final cost? could you run a tv and xbox or a toaster oven or a water heater? How large could you make this if connected to other boxes? And you of course don't support poverty,starvation, and homelessness right ? Noone does ergo you have to support a non monetary economy.. And also thank you for you help...

[TK42138]

Good work!