12v Solar Battery Charger 15W

I have an older wood pellet stove that can run on 110V AC or 12V DC. Which is handy in the event of a power outage, just hook-up a 12V car battery. Before anybody jumps on me and says get a wood stove. I already have one on the main floor, the pellet stove is in the basement.

Even though it isn't as efficient as the newer ones I have been reluctant to replace it because the newer ones do not have this convenience of AC/DC.

During a power outage I would not have the ability of using my AC battery charger and do not want to waste fuel/time charging a car battery with vehicles alternator.

Anybody have any experience with these for charging car batteries?

Any recommendations of a better or more efficient charger would be appreciated.

12v Solar Battery Charger 15W

 

A 15w panel is only good for a small trickle charge to keep a battery maintained....if you're using power OUT ( like to run the stove auger/fan ), then most likely it will take quite a bit more to keep the battery charged.

Here's what I would do. Put a "Kil-a-watt" meter on the AC input of the stove, and run it a week or two, then get an average daily reading for how much power the stove really needs.

Once you have that figure, come back, and we can help you figure exactly what it would take with solar to run the stove.

 

I see what you mean about that being too small. I probably should have checked out some real solar panel sites before asking about the other.

Would a solar charging kit for Small 12V Battery Systems be looking at, along with some good true deep cycle batteries?

Solar Charging Kit for RV, Marine and Small Battery Systems

According to the stoves specifications, a deep cycle marine battery will operate the stove continuously for 4 days. The stove usually runs 5-10 hrs. a day when it is used, so my run time could be more than the 4 days. Yes, I do know that I would not want to drain the battery beyond the recommended discharge. Which is good as sunshine is not a dependable thing around here and might need more time to charge a battery.

115V AC .25amps
12V DC 2.5amps
24 watts

ETA: I can get a kill a watt meter to verify it is running within these specs. Also would be nice to have the ability to charge other batteries along with a sine wave inverter for AC tools if needed. Since a whole house solar system is a bit out of my reach, at this point.

 

10hrs x 2.5amp =25amp/hrs.

That kit will do about 7+amps in full sun, so figure it will take about a day of sun ( 4hrs x 7 ) to replace what you would use in 10hrs, allowing for a little system loss.

Couple of 100amp/hr batteries would give you 4-5 days of run time, depleting to 50%, so you could run that long without sun, but then you'd need 4 days or so of good sun just to replace the battery output, and NOT be running the stove in the meantime.

Personally, I'd make my own "kit"....starting with one panel, and a charge controller LARGE enough to handle at least one more panel should you decide to expand down the road.

 

Well, if not, you can get dehydrated sunshine in a #10 can from Mountain House.

 

So if I added a power inverter and associated wiring, fuses and a good supply of deep cell batteries. In essence I would be making a solar powered generator, without buying a kit like this:

1800 Watt Solar Generator - Solar Generator for Home, Office, Remote Cabins & More!

Provided the sunshine allowed for it.

I would imagine a packaged unit could have it's place for portability.

Thank you for patience, I think I've learned more about other forms of power generation, solar, hydro in the last month than ever.

 

Yes sir, that is what I figured and started a thread to discuss that for others besides myself.

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/off-grid-living/31884-solar-power-generator.html#post201093

 

Don't know about the auger draw, I use old 'puter fans to move the air round my 'hovel'. 1/4 amp and move alot of air, I have a bunch, cases of 9v (transistor) batteries and they work quite well. Perchance a few teamed up would cut the power needed for the fan application on your stove?
Might be too much work to figgure out, still working on the 'duct work' at my 'hovel'. Just an idea.....