Solar Power w/o a Battery! Cheap and Ultra Portable System that Anyone can Build!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.พ. 2019
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Amazing. You just posted the answer to a DIY question I was working on. How to run a 12 volt roof top vent fan from a more than 12 volt solar panel. Don't need a battery since fan only needs to run when the sun is out. Perfect solution!
The same for me, 🎈
Except on hot nights!
you can use a buck converter to do that.
I love these simple cheap videos Will. They can help a lot of people.
Again You Have Outdone Yourself! I Can See An Application To Charge Any Item That Is Run By An Internal Battery Supply! And That Hat Dude Is Gangsta!
Will, may I suggest an interesting experiment: using ice as a battery. For your refrigeration (I notice you have replaced your fridge 4 times!) you can get a small super insulated freezer, and use that ice in super insulated fridge of your own build. A very substantial properly insulated fridge will stay at fridge temperature for 10 full days with only about 7 pounds of ice. Ice as it melts, releases 144 BTU per pound! (or 42 Wh per pound,) about the energy density of a decent battery. Check out a number of youtube videos testing coolers with ice. Some retain that ice for 10 days at temperatures of 85 F out in the sun.
Man, tempts me to put some solar panels to work freezing ice for me so I can use that to stay cool in the summer.
Fantastic to watch your videos. I subscribed to your channel recently & going through archives. Thumbs up for your awesome work.
This is absolutely insane, I love it. If I had not seen this video I would not know that you could do this. Thank you for this video. I can't wait to do this.
Great little project. Had fun building one myself. Thanks for the sharing .
Push this concept Will- so many people will love this. Nice yo see you in the sunshine - did you film this back in July?
Thanks for the insight.. water well time. I have a couple laying around for my golf carts. Really enjoy your videos.
Thanks for the experience. I am now using it and I am reassured
Very interesting and a simple way to set things up. Got to have the sunshine though.
Ya are seriously clued up mate, just brilliant.
This actually might help me save a butt load of money. Thanks man
Thanks Will this helps alot on the project i had in mind. keep up the good info vids.
buck/boost converters are really awesome :) I have smaller, low power ones that you can adjust the output voltage.
Got a link?
I was thinking about this glad it can be done.
Hey Will, could you run something like this alongside a solar charge controller? To use excess or daylight power to power a 12v pump/fan while not consuming power from your battery bank? Thanks for the great vids and info!
Good stuff. Thanks Will
You are so freaking smart I love your brains
Good video keep them coming.
I use a 12 to 24 volt step up like that to charge my power stations from a 200 ah 12 Volt battery, great little devises.
I really like your videos. I'm left with a couple questions. I'm looking to connect a panel array and a wind turbine array directly to a DC water heating coil. Do you have any input on these DC to DC thermal mass storage designs?
Was wondering have you ran a 12volt refrigerator with a solar panel with a 24volt to 12 volt step down converter straight to the refrigerator? Just got the TC35 SetPower refrigerator and was wanting to run off solar during the day without using the jackery to save on battery cycling.
Great vid will :)😁👍👍👍
Quick question i have one 120 w mono solar panel ,can i use this converter for pv panel to dc and then run wiring into a small 15Ow inverter to convert the DC to AC, the inverter is like those used in a car?
I got one of these on Amazon. It's only got 10A output, but it will step up anything above 8V to 13.6V out. It shuts off above 40V though.
If I wanted to do this with an 80w panel, would using a converter work?
Question: What happens if you just have it connected all day? when the voltage falls below it's minimum ie at night, does it quit automatically trying to convert a lower voltage, then recover in the morning when the sun shines? or does it just break the panel, requiring a reboot of some sort? thank you
I like another viewer love these videos they are simple and to the point. These videos will definitely help many people including me until I have my complete system built.
Can you use a buck converter? I have one on hand. What is the difference?
Could you run this converter on two parallel strings of two panels in series? Around 36 v input, and the issue of shading one panel would be solved.
Can you let us know the converter brand name and where to buy it. I have 2 180 watt panels
Is it possible to connect the output wires of multiple converters, in parallel, in order to increase the amps?? I've seen people do that with power supplies
What brand is your converter?
Interesting product. But I would still put a small Battery just to work as giant capacitor. Makes output far more reliable and will also absorb excess solar energy.
can i use only one 12 volts solar panel ang 36/48v to 12v stepdown converter? reply is a highly appreciated..... tnx :)
Will that same 48 to 12 volt converter effectively convert the 18 volts from a single 12 volt solar panel down to 12 volts? If so perhaps one could use the 48 to 12 volt converter for 12, 24 or 48 solar panels. I also wonder what the peak input voltage is for the 24 to 12 compared to the 48 to 12. I wonder if internally they may use the same parts.
When you connected 1000 watts solar how much voltage was that input i have 1 panel thats 330watts with voltage 33.8 and 1 panel with 365 watts with voltage 44.5 would this work with 30amp converter
Will that pwm inverter hurt your computer even if not turned on, just charging it?
even better than those convertors you can get a iCharger x6 that has an adjustable voltage output for whatever need you have but it is a little more expensive
interesting, do you know of any useful videos that talk about this?
@@AskIveSolar amazon , ebay , etc
How did you connect the panels, in series or parallel?
Is it possible to create 4x24v Solar pannels into 24v-220v converter ? Ty
Could this handle a tesla charger? Could you use 4 300w panels on the roof to charge?
Can this be scaled up to directly charge an electric vehicle without the need of converting to ac then back to dc?
William your Awesome
Love the hat..
Is it possible to take a universal washing machine motor to run an old wringer washer on 12 volt and hook it up directly to a solar panel?
We have a 30 watt septic/pond pump, 100 watt solar panel, and 400 watt inverter. Do we need a converter- if so what size , and whether that's a yes or no, need details on how to set this system up, please?
You mentioned you can use this with an existing roof top system, my question is will it take away from the power to recharge your batteries?
Why is the step down converter needed if an inverter is going to be used to power 110/120 appliances? Would it not work just fine with a 24V DC to 110/120 AC inverter?
What about add super cap between solar and converter.
Subscribed 😎
You can skip the converter with a 24V inverter?
Can you do more amazon links for Europe?
How can I purchase some small size DC to DC Converters
Awesome 👍
So I did this with 100w panel (volts output around 18-19volts). The buck converter was 24V input (range is 17v - 35v) at 12v 10Amp output. When I put a dc fan (rated 12V 90w) the outgoing voltage to the fan was around 4 volts and the fan was running about 1/3 of normal speed.
Maybe I’m not getting enough power from my solar panel but I don’t know why the buck converter isn’t spitting out 12v to the fan.
What would it take for one to power a 10KW inverter using that system??
Could I use 12v panels instead?
If the panels are 12 v, then do batteries and other panels have to all be 12 v also? Does everything have to be the same?
Do the solar panels HAVE to be in series? Please someone tell me
If you dc to dc a 12 volt panel to 5 volts does that double the wattage or amps similar to a battery conversion? So that a 12v 30w panel would be equivalent to 5v 60w? For charging USB battery banks. Thanks!
Yes, The output power will be the same as the input power minus conversion losses. So a 5v output will have ~2.4 times more current than the 12v input. This is only true for a SMPS converter (like this one). This will not be the case for a linear regulator which has the same input and output current but different voltages.
Is there a setup to run a space heater without a battery ?
Hey Will, can you trickle charge an electric car through the solar panel array since it can plug into a 120 volt ac outlet? Or even better, DC charge to DC?
This would work however it would require fine adjustment of the charger so ensure it doesn't draw soo much current from the inverter that the solar panel voltage reduces below the DC DC converter minimum input voltage. Charging an EV directly with DC is not likely to be viable with this setup as the battery voltage of the EV is generally very high (hundreds of volts). Even if the voltage matched the DC to DC converter does not contain an appropriate battery charging profile and could over charge and destroy the EV battery. An MPPT solar regulator with an appropriate output voltage range and charge profile would be able to charge an EV directly with DC. Neither of these approaches however allow battery cell monitoring and balancing which is also a critical component for all non Lead-acid batteries.
Could you use a small bank of super capacitors to keep your load running when a cloud or other shadow temporarily shades a part of your array?
Not really. Capacitor capacity is tiny. You could use a converter that has an output voltage of a small sealed lead acid and use that as a buffer.
@@richardowens9061 This.
Perhaps you could use a 12v MPPT and small lead acid battery to get more power out of the panels?
I did this with a 100w solar blanket outputting around 20volts. I passed that through a converter down to 13.8v and used it to power car charger to recharge a drone battery. The only problem is under load the voltage on both sides of the converter starts pulsing between maximum and some minimum and I’m not sure why. Disconnect the load and the volts on both side stabilise at their maximums again. The converter is rated at 20amps and the charger seems to be drawing around 3amps when charging and that’s during the pulsing voltage phase. Ie even though the voltage is fluctuating the amps are pretty constant. This pulsing voltage means it takes a loonnng time to charge the drone battery. It’s not behaving at all like I expected. I’ll try to find a 12v load to test with. Perhaps it’s some attribute of the car charger or the drone battery.
Can you run these for hours at a time? Say running ac while sun is out only , considering enough wattage of panels
Did you ever find an answer?
Hi what was the purpose of the Converter, couldn't he simply connect the inveter directly with the Solar?
Omg thankS
But what about using the panels in parallel so the voltage will be lower but the power should be close to the same and shading wouldn't affect it as much
That hat is sweet!!
Missouri Wind and Solar has a thing that hooks to a solar panel and converts the dc output to ac.
how many hours will work
would wind work?
Can you try this using a super capacitor?
Need constant sun, Lives in the UK, moving on :D
haha!
For a single 100w solar panel with voc 21.60 what dc converter is recommended? 10 amp or 20 amp? Will 20 amp be more efficient because less heat under load? Or it is better with a 30 amp dc converter? Or for the efficiency it does not matter? On the dc converter specs sheet it says up to 94 % efficiency for the 10 and 20 amp and up to 96 % efficiency for the 30 amp. Or it depends on the load?
With an inverter I will also lose 10 to 15% , isn't it? From the total of 100 w panel, I will loose 10% on the dc converter and 10-15% on the inverter? This means total usable power will be around 75- 80 watt/hour in perfect perpendicular solar conditions? If not I will get 40 to 60 watt/ hour usable power ? Right? Thx
I would try to get the biggest one you can. And yes if you are pushing the limit watts wise, it will decrease efficiency.
the biggest determinant factor of efficiency for these converters is the difference in voltage from the input to the output. If the input is extremely different than the output the efficiency will be decreased. If the voltage going in and out are practically the same, then the efficiency will be high
Can you start at the beginning, why can't you just plug the solar output into the USB C or 12V plug of a laptop that has an internal battery?
I'm new at this and I don't get your wiring configuration. I get you have your solar panels going into the converter and then the converter into your inverter. Are both of the fans and your laptop plugged into an ac extension chord ? Sorry but it's difficult to see because your wiring harness (sitting on the top) looks like it's split off in different directions so I can't figure what's going where. I'm also confused about the blue cable next to the invertor... can't see where that is going. Thx
It looks like its going from inverter to extension cord. Sorry, maybe I dont understand the complexity of your question.
your right about shade do not miss match panels dont learn the hard way
So we have the option of charging our solar battery and running the laptop off that directly without using the laptop's battery vs charging the laptop battery directly. I wonder which gives more battery life? I would think the first because I would think a large battery system would be more efficient than a small system in the laptop.
The reason a series solar pv system drops all power to device loads with partial shading of one panel is that all of the cells are in series causing a high impedance for the shaded cells which looks like an open circuit.
If you parallel those 4 PV panels for 12-18V output, partial or full shading one panel will still produce 3/4 of the 4 PV panel's power to the inverter loads. I'm not sure if that inverter is designed to work down to 12V, but there are plenty of alternatives on the market.
Actually I made a video on this quite recently. the bypass diodes to some degree help but there's voltage drop across the diode. But yeah absolutely
@@WillProwse yes I just watched it. Very good. We were both on Jehu's livestream last night. Great videos! Keep going.
Another idea is to use a DC water heater element, and thus store your energy as hot water. The ultimate cheap battery!
Very true!
Eat Sleep Van how do I power my phone with hot water?
@@SuperVstech Great question!
and how do you get back the energie from the water? i really want to know
@@bengrobben2582you don't, but you could have a nice hot shower
What if I want to run a 24v inverter ?
So, how many of these would it take to charge a Nissan LEAF directly from panels? Thinking of panels on a carport roof.
Yeah you need a dedicated mppt. This video is not applicable to your use amigatech.
Inside the charger is a rectifier followed by a DC to DC converter. Many times these devices will operate from DC. An array capable of delivering 120-180v at comfortably more than 6 amps could be fed to an EVSE *with an internal switching power supply* and it might charge the LEAF. The factory EVSE would need 12+ amps. And if anything burns up, you didn't hear it from me 😉
@@realsolarcars I have seen it done - without batteries, but I do not recall how it was set up.
How many amp solar panel? If solar panel is 10amp max you need 10amp max converter.
Will,
Brilliant video!
You must watch yourself, you contradict yourself regarding use of square wave inverter.
In this video, you encourage it’s use.
In other video, you discouraged use!
Just saying 😂😂😂🥰👍🏻🇿🇦🇿🇦
Could be used to run a pond pump.
@WillProwse How many watts of solar does that hat block??
1200 ish
awesome video as always. i would like to add that modified sine wave inverters will never again be connected to something that is expensive and delicate like my tv or laptop every again. i suspect my harbor freight inverter ruined my 65 inch led 3d smart tv tv that i paid alostmof $2000 grand for. the inverter made the tv make a weird buzzing noise and about a month later the tv started to act up, it would power its self off and sometmes it would come back on and sometimes not. it got to where it wouldnt turn on at all. luckily it was under still less than a year old and i got a new one for free, but i always suspected that the inverter caused that issue, maybe not though. also touch screens and touch pads on laptops do not like mod sine wave inverters.
Some electronics don't do well and can be ruined by mod sine wave.
@@followeroftheway4325 yes, i think i destroyed a smart car battery charger on a modified sine wave inverter recently. first of all not only did it not put any juice to the battery using a amp clamp to confirm, but it was making weird noises. luckily again it was new and under warranty. also i suspect "pure sine wave" inverters are not all created the same, nor do they deliver the cleanest wave.
Hey Will...! I was just wondering, if I have a battery bank of 48 volts or higher, can I chardge it with 1 or 2 solar panels? And how would I do that? Can you show us how a solar array, with lower voltage, can chardge a batterybank with higher voltage. I'm sure there is a way, I just don't know it yet... :-)
You could use a boost converter attached to a charge controller but the losses would be horrid. I strongly suggest using a higher voltage panel instead of multiple lower voltage panels
@@WillProwse Okay thanks, I'll see what I can find... :-)
Doesn't the minimum input voltage for the converter matter too? Some of these converters, including the ones linked in the tutorial, can't accept less than 28V. The small converter linked in the tutorial can't accept less than 28V and the large one can't accept less than 40V. Normal "12V" solar panels output around 18V, so these converters won't work unless you wired 2 panels in series, right? I want to do a single 50W panel to power a 12V USB charger, so I guess I should be looking at something like a 16-30V input to 12V output converter?
Sounds like you understand it. Good inquiry.
Ok now for the real test, will it run your rv air conditioner??
Where are the links to the DC-DC-converters ?
in the comments section and the description. and now its here as well: www.mobile-solarpower.com/12v-solar-without-a-battery.html
@@WillProwse could you run a alternator with it? Would there be any benefits from running an alternator off solar? Is the efficiency lose worse than just using it to charge batteries?
Looking for 400 W rich solar panels on Amazon cannot find them why can I find 100 W which has solar panels for $80 either
LEE WONNELL search for mighty max. i just bought one for $79
First off i gotta say it's crazy nobody even aftermarket makes a power tool battery charger. All i wanna do is be able to charge my m18 Milwaukee batteries while on long camping trips so i don't need to bring as many. I already have a 12v vehicle changer so this is perfect. I do really think someone should make a power tool charger with mc cables coming straight out of it.
If you had the panels wired in parallel the tiny shading wouldn’t affect the tout much.
To power an inverter the solar panel needs to create more power than the inverter requires to precharge. A 100 Watt Panel works with a 300 Watt modified sine wave it, but not with a 700 Watt Pure Sine Wave where surge amperage can exceed 4 Amps of 13.8 Volts DC.
Can you explain that a little more? How would one know how much an inverter needs to precharge.
@@AskIveSolar The DC current draw of a 700 watt inverter can surge up to 20 or 40 Watts three or four times when charging for the first minute, so you need a panel that produces more than the DC surge wattage of the inverter or you might have to cycle the power switch on the inverter a few times until the capacitors in the inverter are charged. I tested two different inverters and they charge pretty quickly from a battery. When charging the capacitors from a panel the panel voltage will drop and the low voltage drop will will sound an alarm and you will hear them when they are charging for about 5 or 10 seconds on a small inverter and 60 seconds on a larger inverter. The smaller inverters will just chirp for a second. The larger inverters will keep beeping for a minute. Just be careful because the capacitors will discharge if you don't drain them.
@@charlesjames4194 I'm gonna have to read that like 5 times.
I only have 200 watts of panels hooked up to a couple power stations but I'd love to start tinkering with a system like this because storing energy is not my priority nor does it fit with my non existent budget for batteries.
@@AskIveSolar Batteries are very heavy, expensive, and last a few years. They are great for storing extra power for night or when the sun goes behind a cloud. If your computer, phone, radio equipment, or rechargeable tools already have a battery then it is redundant. When you are trying to budget a voltage regulator is a pretty wise decision for low power devices. I found a 10 Amp 13.8 Volt one that I use with one 100 watt panel.
I'm soooo confused. You gave a link for more info on this and I'm looking at the diagram that shows solar hooked to the 48v to 12v step down converter and straight to the 12v appliance. Then further down you say this setup doesn't work well with inverters but then further down you say hook up the output wires to the inverter. WHAT??!!
Isn't the point in not having batteries or even an inverter? I mean, the inverter has to be powered and if I have to use an inverter, I might as well plug my 22v appliance into the inverter.
Same seems to contradict itself in the write up
Can i use this to power a freezer in the afternoon alone?
You will need a lot of solar panels. Initial starting surge of fridge compressor may make it extremely difficult
@@WillProwse I may have to buy a 140watt fridge then..... The power of your induction fan and other loads you use for the test was about 130watt all together right?
@@Cooldipo yeah but fridge compressors initial draw is crazy high. Mine only pulls 70 watts, but the initial draw is 70 amps at 12 volts! its huge
Thanks for the exposition.... May have to save up for battery then..... Pls be on the lookout for solution to problems like this.... Regards!