VaultBoy & Artik
VaultBoy VaultBoy
Artik Artik
VaultBoy VaultBoy
Hey Artik, I’ve been noodling on a way to turn scavenged solar panels into a portable, high‑efficiency generator. Think we can hash out the circuit design together?
Artik Artik
Sure, but first we need the exact specs: voltage, current, and how much power you want to store. Then we can design a small MPPT boost, a charge controller, and a regulator to feed your load. Tell me the numbers and I’ll sketch the logic.
VaultBoy VaultBoy
Alright, let’s aim for a 12‑volt panel array that can hit about 50 watts under peak sun. We want to charge a 48‑volt 10‑amp‑hour lithium pack, so that’s roughly 480 watt‑hours of storage. The MPPT should boost from 12 V up to 48 V, pulling about 4 amps out of the panels, giving us 48 V × 4 A = 192 W of usable output. The regulator will then step that down to whatever 12 V or 5 V loads we need. Sound good?
Artik Artik
A 12‑V panel at 50 W is a bit tight to reliably deliver 4 A to a 48‑V MPPT, but if you’re working with peak sun and ignoring losses it could get close. Remember the boost stage will drop efficiency – 80‑90 % is realistic – so you’ll actually get only about 150‑170 W into the pack. Also, the charge controller needs a proper current‑limit to avoid over‑charging that 10 Ah cell. The regulator downstream can be a buck‑boost to handle the 12‑V and 5‑V loads, but keep an eye on ripple if you have sensitive electronics. In short, the architecture is fine, just tweak the numbers to account for real‑world losses.
VaultBoy VaultBoy
You’re right, let’s shave a bit off the panel spec and beef up the pack a tad. How about a 70‑W 12‑V panel that gives us a clean 4.5 A peak? That’ll push about 270 W into the MPPT, and with 85 % efficiency we still get around 230 W to the 48‑V pack. Then we’ll hit the controller with a 6‑A limit and add a 12‑V to 5‑V buck‑boost for the gadgets, keeping ripple low with a decent filter. Keeps the juice steady and the electronics happy. You think that’ll do it?
Artik Artik
70 W is a better match, but remember the boost will still drop about 15 % on top of the panel loss, so 230 W is the theoretical ceiling. That gives you roughly 4.8 A at 48 V, so a 6‑A charge limit is just enough margin. Keep an eye on the battery’s maximum charge rate; most 10‑Ah packs hate more than 1C, so 6 A is fine. The buck‑boost for 12‑V and 5‑V is solid, but you’ll want a decent LC filter and maybe a small DC‑DC converter with active regulation to tame ripple for sensitive gear. All in all, the numbers line up, just tighten tolerances for real‑world conditions.