I have often toyed with setting up a solar powered 12 volt light / power system. It might be a useful experience and a bit of fun in a James May project sort of way.
We have a house with outbuildings, some of which have no mains electricity connection and anyway we need to switch off the mains when we're away. To start with, I think I'd like to be able to keep a 20W low energy bulb (say equivalent to an old 100 W ) lit all night and maybe extend a system to a couple of other smaller ones too. It would be good to run a ventilation fan sometimes too.
It would be a fun project so it can't cost too much. I need a decent PV panel which would get a bit more sun than in England, a controller/regulator and a time switch. There would be no need for an inverter as there would be no more than 12 volts. There is a lot of information on the web and REUK.co.uk is a handy reference. I'd start with their cheap 12v adapted 240v timer.
To the point: I have a couple of old car batteries which seem OK enough to start with and a darned sight cheaper than a "leisure" battery for £100+. If I connected them in parallel I'd improve on the system capacity and get myself a longer lighting time. But, as the batteries eventually tended towards terminal failure would the worse one damage the better one ? Is connecting them a good idea?
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 9 Nov 11 at 00:20
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Using old car battery in 12volt light system - Fenlander
