murankar
Staff member
I have tossed this idea around a while back when I built the firs charge case. The idea of going solar for the field is creeping back in my head. I got a deep cycle battery in my van for the field but no way to charge it if I need more power while at the field. I could run a charge circuit off my main battery. This to me would be a great short term fix to the long term problem.
My deep cycle can handle 10 amps discharge for 10 hours, which to me means 80 AH. I am still not sure how my charge cycles on the packs I would get when adding in the power usage of the PL6 and bump controller. I do know that it will take longer to charge packs since I wont have the full 40 amps the charger can do. I am on a 12v system right now which is fine for now. I dont think taking a deep cycle to 24v will net me the 40 possible amps and I dont think the batteries can handle that for to long if they could do it. So if I can get around 9.9 amps for the packs I can get almost 3C on the 3300 mah packs I have or 9 amps for the 3000 mah packs I have. I charge 1 stick pack for a cycle at a time.
I could also do an inverter at 2000 watts and I should be able to pull my max 3C charge rate for 2 packs. I know I would have losses in there due to the inverter, power supply and the charger.
I found a solar kit on amazon by renogy which is rated at 100W at 5 amps in perfect conditions. My deep cycle should be able to handle 8 amps for max charge. I think this kit would bundle nicely in the van and be able to serve as a dual purpose rig. Not only can I use it for the hobby but when I go camping also. I have no intention on charging while driving due to gas releases from the deep cycle. I real question is could a 100w panel keep me going at the field for the day? Basically leave the house with charged packs and then attempt for 9 total flights which means each stick would need 2 more cycles after getting to the field.
this solution if it works would be cheaper than a generator, cleaner and quieter than a generator. Plus I could use it for other things like camping.
My deep cycle can handle 10 amps discharge for 10 hours, which to me means 80 AH. I am still not sure how my charge cycles on the packs I would get when adding in the power usage of the PL6 and bump controller. I do know that it will take longer to charge packs since I wont have the full 40 amps the charger can do. I am on a 12v system right now which is fine for now. I dont think taking a deep cycle to 24v will net me the 40 possible amps and I dont think the batteries can handle that for to long if they could do it. So if I can get around 9.9 amps for the packs I can get almost 3C on the 3300 mah packs I have or 9 amps for the 3000 mah packs I have. I charge 1 stick pack for a cycle at a time.
I could also do an inverter at 2000 watts and I should be able to pull my max 3C charge rate for 2 packs. I know I would have losses in there due to the inverter, power supply and the charger.
I found a solar kit on amazon by renogy which is rated at 100W at 5 amps in perfect conditions. My deep cycle should be able to handle 8 amps for max charge. I think this kit would bundle nicely in the van and be able to serve as a dual purpose rig. Not only can I use it for the hobby but when I go camping also. I have no intention on charging while driving due to gas releases from the deep cycle. I real question is could a 100w panel keep me going at the field for the day? Basically leave the house with charged packs and then attempt for 9 total flights which means each stick would need 2 more cycles after getting to the field.
this solution if it works would be cheaper than a generator, cleaner and quieter than a generator. Plus I could use it for other things like camping.