Solar Power System
As shown above, I have a 50-Watt solar panel mounted to a telescoping mast that supports my TV antennas. This panel charges
a battery in my radio room. I power my 2-meter radio with it during power outages. I made the supporting brackets using
right-angle aluminum purchased at a building supply store. Below is a side view of the panel.
I built a charger/controller based on an article in the September 1996 QST magazine. I added a voltmeter and switch to read the panel voltage and the
battery voltage. A picture of the charger/controller with the meter showing panel voltage is shown below.
The red LED when illuminated indicates the panel is charging the battery. With reasonably good sunlight, the LED blinks on and off because
the panel charges the battery up to the charge set point, the controller disconnects the panel, and the battery discharges until the point
where the battery voltage falls below the set point and the cycle repeats. The set point is adjustable. Below is a picture of the charger/controller
with the meter showing battery voltage
The battery is a APC 7 amp-hour rechargeable sealed lead acid battery shown below.
