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Testing auxiliary solar panel with custom trike

December 30, 2024 — BarryK

Briliant blue sky this morning, 10.15am, December 30, mid-summer here in Perth, Western Australia. As mentioned in the previous blog post, the intention when at a camp-site is to keep the trike under shade (if available), with the throw-over tent. There will be a cable to small solar panel in the sun to keep the battery topped-up. Previous post:

The problem, though, is where to mount an extra solar panel on the trike? Found a place where a folding panel could fit, then looked around for one that will be within those dimensions. So, selected a panel based on restricted size, not capacity. But, it turned out remarkably well. This is what I purchased, for AU$169:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/294677489161

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Ha ha, what a joke; it is advertised as "300W". I was amused in one of the comments, someone complained that they bought it because they expected 300W or near. Naive! You have to know that many vendors tell lies, and estimate power output from surface area of the panel. The vendor also claimed "grade-A monocrystalline", which I also doubted, but after testing the panel; yes, high-efficiency cells.

To connect the auxiliary solar panel, an MPPT controller is required (I threw away the PWM controller that came with the solar panel). Instead of unplugging one that is used for the main solar panel, used the extra one that I had purchased, this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007612832046.html

...it was AU$48 when I purchased it, now gone up a bit; but the AU Dollar has fallen compared with US Dollar. The reason I purchased this was due to curiosity, after having purchased the Lensun MPPT controller:

...the MPPT controller direct from China was less than half the price. Today, finally tested it, and it works great. I attached Anderson connectors:

img2

Plugged into the "48V" lithium battery:

img3

Good result; 86W, more than I expected!

Also useful while touring and stopped for awhile, can get out the auxiliary solar panel and have two panels charging the battery, while eating lunch or whatever.

EDIT:
Found another alternative to the Lensun MPPT controller. This is a brand-name product, with English printed on the controller (and the User Manual is probably in English also). Also cheaper, AU$48 postage-free:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008269117932.html

Looking around on Aliexpress, also discovered there is another variant with a maximum input voltage of 65V (the above is 50V).    

Tags: light