Solar Charging System

Here is my Solar Charging System and how I made it. What I didnt purchase, I recycled the parts from other things I already had to make it. I will show you each part of the setup and explain its purpose.
 
I probably dont have to explain the purpose of the solar panel, but thats where the electricity comes from. I am not sure about this, but I heard that one of the newest types of solar panels out there is the monocrystalline. I like it very much because it is small and it produces a lot of power. It may look big in the picture, but it is actually the exact same size as a 8x11 piece of printer paper.

Step 1: The Solar Panel Mount and Wiring

Here is the mount that I made for my panel, it actually came from an old TV dish so I took it off and re-used it for this project
 
Also in the other picture is my connection to the solar panel using a waterproof connector. Inside the red box is simply where I had to make other connections to the wire going into my room. The grey wire you see is meant to be used underground as it has 2 insulating layers on it. Also in the other picture, is the pole the panel is mounted on which is about 6 1/2 feet tall.

Comments

[davecason]

Hi !

It looks cool, what size/power is your solar panel and where did you get the charge controller from !?

Cheers'
Dave

[Electronics Man]

Hey, I got the solar panel and the charge controller off of Amazon.com and both were bundled together as one item. The panel is a 5 Watt which is small but works VERY well and is sold by the company Instapark.

Thanks!

Electronics Man

[Electronics Man]

The solar panel is a small, but effective 5 Watts and its the same size as a sheet of printer paper. I bought it along with the charge controller off of Amazon.com

Thanks for your interest!

Electronics Man

[Electronics Man]

Hey triumphman, what you see in the first picture on step one is not actually a circuit board. As explained in the instructable, the solar panel is attached onto a TV satellite dish mount which I had to weld a piece of tin onto, so what you see that looks like a circuit board is actually the spatter from the welding. I hope that makes since to you. And for your other comment about the wiring, No I never did fry any components and it wasnt trial and error. But your right there is a lot of wires (There is actually more but you cant see them in the pictures) and I had an idea of what I wanted it to do so it made it much easier to build. And finally for your question about the cost, the only things that I bought was the solar panel and the battery. Everything else I recycled to make this setup.

Thanks for the comments and feel free to ask more questions!!!

[triumphman]

How did you figure all this wiring stuff out ? Trial and error ? I would be concerned that I would fry too many components by the trial and error method! Can get expensive, Yes ?

[triumphman]

In step one picture I can see a printed circuit board, is it exposed to the weather ?

[vishalapr]

This is totally awesome! Well done on using green energy!

[Electronics Man]

Thanks!!

[vishalapr]

YUP TOTALLY AWESOME! Rated 5*****

[vishalapr]

(removed by author or community request)

[ddavis662]

Cool way to mount the solar panel

[Electronics Man]

Thanks! The cool thing about it is that I can adjust the angle of the panel simply by turning a screw

[ddavis662]

check out the charge my 15 watt solar panel is putting out.