Question I want a battery for my 300 watt solar panel, what Amazon products do you recommend ?

[Bill745897]

So I want the battery to charge from my 300 watt solar panel

I want it to have a UK 3-pin power socket to plug my laptop into it.

I dont wan't to spend over £50

Also, I want to be able to use my laptop at night, away from the solar panel for as many hours as I can get.

Thanks for help!!

 

[Misgar]

This Anker unit is rated to take the full 300W output of your solar panel and has standard UK 13A 3-pin sockets, as per your requirements:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Portable-Station-Generator-Optional/dp/B0C6MC2CTN

I dont wan't to spend over £50

Sorry, but I don't think you'll find a power bank that takes the full 300W output of your solar panel for less than 50 quid. The Anker unit is £449.

 

[Bill745897]

so a battery that connects to the solar panel and charges, ive seen them for 20 quid id prefer one close to 20 than 50

 

[Misgar]

ive seen them for 20 quid

Please could you include a link to this £20 battery?

Does it come with a controller to convert the wide ranging voltage output from the solar panel to the correct charging voltage/current for the battery.

As an example, this 300W panel can output up to 27.6V and 10.76A, so I wouldn't connect it directly across a LiPO or sealed lead acid battery. It might cause a small explosion or a fire.
https://www.craigsolar.co.uk/shop/300w-solar-panel-monocrystalline

I want it to have a UK 3-pin power socket to plug my laptop into it.

I doubt if your £20 battery includes a DC to AC converter with a 3-pin 13A UK socket.

 

[punkncat]

So I want the battery to charge from my 300 watt solar panel

I want it to have a UK 3-pin power socket to plug my laptop into it.

I dont wan't to spend over £50

Also, I want to be able to use my laptop at night, away from the solar panel for as many hours as I can get.

Thanks for help!!

Can you link the solar panel itself?

300W is no indication of charging voltage.

 

[Bill745897]

Yea so it says 200 or 300 watt but its more like 140 in reality, so I only need a battery from the UK with a 3 pin plug in ive seen them some have multiple 3 pin plugs and they were not to pricey hopefully 140 watts will charge them up , how long do they last typically?

 

[punkncat]

Yea so it says 200 or 300 what but its more like 140 in reality

300W would be a best case (sunny out) capacity and there should be another figure showing at what voltage and/or amperage.

By and large you can get charging relays for DC power from such as Altronix for SUPER cheap. The other aspect is going to pertain to the type of battery or batteries this will be charging. According to the output of the panel you may be able to hook right into some 12V SLA batteries alongside a charging relay. If it is only putting out 5V, or is putting out 24V you may have to use various means or hardware to get the desired output to perform the task at hand (charging the batteries).

 

[bill001g]

You are going to have to be much more clear on what exactly the solar panel is putting out and what type of power your laptop needs.

I guess the main question is are you talking AC or DC power. Then it depends on the voltages. Most batteries are 12 volts and charge at about 13 volts or so. A lot of laptops need 19 volts but this varies a lot between devices. You need some device that will covert all these voltages. DC/DC voltage converters are pretty inexpensive but you must add that cost to the cost of just the battery. If you are talk about AC power then things get massively more expensive.

 

[Misgar]

I only need a battery from the UK with a 3 pin plug

OK, let's get down to basics.

This is a standard 3-pin fused UK plug, designed for operation on a nominal 230V AC (Alternating Current) 50Hz supply at up to 13 Amps (depending on fuse rating)

This is a typical SLA battery, with a nominal rating of 12 Volts DC (Direct Current).

You cannot connect a 13A plug directly to a battery without a special charging circuit, which converts 230V AC to nominal 12V DC.

ive seen them some have multiple 3 pin plugs

I suspect what you're talking about is multiple 13A sockets.

You cannot connect a battery directly to the L and N terminals on the back of a 13A socket, without a special DC-to-AC inverter circuit.

This is a typical 300W solar panel on Amazon.co.uk:

This label shows the DC output of the panel is 27.9V at up to 11.8A (max in full sunlight).

You cannoty connect 27.6V from the solar panel directly to a 12V battery, without a special "buck" DC-to-DC converter circuit to drop the voltage.

I want it to have a UK 3-pin power socket to plug my laptop into it.

This is a generic laptop PSU with a 13A mains plug. Your PSU might be similar.

To power your laptop PSU, you need 230V AC. In a solar system, this comes from a DC-to-AC inverter, powered (typically) from a SLA battery.

To charge the battery, you need a DC-to-DC converter, to match the 27.6V DC output of a typical solar panel with the nominal 12V DC input of a SLA battery. You could use LiPO (Lithium) batteries with a different converter.

Unless you are familiar with designing, specifying and building electronic circuits, the easiest option is to buy a "Power Bank" which incorporates all three circuits, i.e.
1). A 27V to 12V DC-to-DC converter
2). A 12V Sealed Lead Acid battery
3). A DC-to-AC inverter with 230V outputs on 13A mains sockets.

Achieving all this for £20, seems unlikely to me.

A 12V 7Ahr battery on its own will set you back roughly £15. Then you'll need a DC-to-DC converter with at least 200W rating (preferably 300W). Finally you'll need a DC-to-AC inverter rated at 100W (preferably 150W).

If you do find a cheap battery bank/inverter for £50, don't be surprised if it goes bang, or it damages your laptop mains charger. There's a reason why Anker charge a massive £450 for their product.

I'd expect to pay at least £100 for a half-way decent power bank/inverter.

There's also battery life to consider. A small 12V 7Ahr battery will probably last only 1 hour driving a laptop at roughly 70W. For more time you'd need a bigger battery.

 

[Bill745897]

thanks for the help guys so I Could just buy some spare batteries for my lap top have like 5 of them in the sun and charge all 5 and save them for later, that wouldnt cost that much 2nd hand , but id prefer just 1 big battery , i could plug into later in the evening when the sun goes down

Cheers if it wont last that long i might not bother anyway , but u get what product i mean

 

[Bill745897]

Thanks very much friend so its a 80-140 watt solar panel advertised as 200watts see my above answer for what product I mean

 

[Misgar]

I Could just buy some spare batteries for my lap top have like 5 of them in the sun and charge all 5 and save them for later,

Presumably you have a fairly old laptop with a removeable battery that can be unpugged from the rear, when you turn the laptop over and operate a couple of release catches?

If so, check the battery voltage. I've got a couple of batteries here from two completely different laptops and they're both rated at 10.6V.

If you manage to connect a solar panel rated at 27V/11A (or similar) directly to a 10.6V battery without a proper charging circuit, watch out for battery overheating, explosions and fire. Lithium can be very dangerous when exposed to the air.

Most laptop batteries come with multiple connections, allowing an intelligent battery charger to monitor the voltage across each cell. This and possible temperature sensors inside the battery pack mean the charger will reduce the charging current to a trickle, or stop charging completely, when the battery is full. If you continue charging at full current, the battery will overheat.

If you are tempted to try direct connection between a 27V solar panel and a laptop battery without a proper Lithium charge controller, wear safety goggles and thick gloves, then step back at least 20ft (6m) and wait for an explosion.

Note: Older laptop batteries may come with 2 cells, 3 cells or 4 cells. Each Lithium cell has a terminal voltage of roughly 3.5V, so a 2-cell battery will be 7.0V, a 3-cell 10.5V and a 4-cell 14.0V.

If you have a newer laptop with an internal battery, it's going to be extremely difficult to swap batteries.

Take care! Lithium fires are dangerous.

 

[Misgar]

I Could just buy some spare batteries for my lap top have like 5 of them in the sun and charge all 5 and save them for later, that wouldnt cost that much 2nd hand ,

Best of luck sourcing 5 decent batteries for under £100. Buying second hand laptop batteries is a bit of a lottery.

If you buy OEM (genuine) second-hand batteries advertised on eBay, they're often more expensive than brand new pattern part (clone) batteries. OEM laptop batteries from HP, Dell, etc., are usually over £100 each.

You may find that second-hand batteries are getting old and only capable of storing 40 to 60% of their original capacity. If you pick up 5 old batteries with some useful life for £5 each, it might be worth the risk.

You'll still need a charger circuit to convert the voltage coming out of the solar panel to the correct voltage and current for the batteries.

As examples of what you might need, my old Lenovo Thinkpad X250 takes two different batteries:

Here's an external 10.8V 4400mAhr battery for £32.99.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUNCELL-4400mAh-45N1124-Battery-ThinkPad/dp/B0DHCNK67Z

The internal 11.4V 24hr battery is cheaper at £25.99.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUNCELL-ThinkPad-121500145-121500143-SB10K97602/dp/B0B6DXQ19J/ref=sr_1_7

You can swap external batteries in a few seconds. Internal batteries require you to disassemble the laptop, which is best done on a workbench.

 

[Bill745897]

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C1SQN...5VU7GU1D6&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

Hi friends will this work with my solar panel as a battery I can charge for over night use with my laptop? Will it connect to my solar panel and charge ok its the cheaper 65 pound version?

Misgar thankyou exceedingly for your efforted responses

 

[nelska]

jackery is the way to go until you learn about how sharp anker solix are. lol

 

[Misgar]

will this work with my solar panel as a battery I can charge for over night use with my laptop?

Have you heeded all the negative reviews saying the unit runs dangerously hot when charged from the mains, doesn't have a true sine wave output as claimed so it destroys equipment and the seller is obviously a rogue? Obviously not.

DON'T TOUCH IT WITH A BARGE POLE!!!

 

[Bill745897]

Have you heeded all the negative reviews saying the unit runs dangerously hot when charged from the mains, doesn't have a true sine wave output as claimed so it destroys equipment and the seller is obviously a rogue? Obviously not.

DON'T TOUCH IT WITH A BARGE POLE!!!

what about wet hands but rubber ducky slippers on?