I have a 100w solar panel I'm trying to use to charge a lifepo4 battery. On my e bike I used an ebay special voltage converter to drop from 36/48v down to 13.8v to run "12v" things and it worked great. This was for things like a headlight and car style accessories.
With the solar panel I'm using something very similar but it's not providing any decent output. The solar panel directly can put out 1 to 6 amps or so with a 20v open circuit. With the converter in the way to regulate to 13.8v it only registers 0.15 amps. Any theories as to why it?
I thought maybe it was something to do with the switching of the supply and dragging down the solar panel voltage. So it was registering 20v, switching to regulate current at that voltage but as it drew on it the actual voltage was much less so no current flowed. I tried it with a capacitor to try and smooth this out but no change.
I could get an proper solar mppt charger but they all seem to be designed for less acid and go through different float, desulfate modes etc. Which would be detrimental to a lifepo4. Also they are much more expensive.
A third option is just to make/get something that just burns off any excess voltage as heat by it seems a bit archaic.
With the solar panel I'm using something very similar but it's not providing any decent output. The solar panel directly can put out 1 to 6 amps or so with a 20v open circuit. With the converter in the way to regulate to 13.8v it only registers 0.15 amps. Any theories as to why it?
I thought maybe it was something to do with the switching of the supply and dragging down the solar panel voltage. So it was registering 20v, switching to regulate current at that voltage but as it drew on it the actual voltage was much less so no current flowed. I tried it with a capacitor to try and smooth this out but no change.
I could get an proper solar mppt charger but they all seem to be designed for less acid and go through different float, desulfate modes etc. Which would be detrimental to a lifepo4. Also they are much more expensive.
A third option is just to make/get something that just burns off any excess voltage as heat by it seems a bit archaic.