How To Build A Mini DIY Solar Charger

Recently built a DIY Mini Solar Charger, that allows me to harness the energy from the sun, to charge any mobile phone, android device, iphone, ipad or similar USB device. Learn how, using just a few cheap components and a bit of simple soldering, you can create this clever little device, that may save you a bit of money too...

Parts List : 3.7V Li-ion 18650 Batteries Parallel 3x3.7V 18650 Battery Holder USB Charging Module PCB Board 3V To 5V USB Step Up Boost Module SOLAR PANEL 12V 1.5W Wire Suitable case or tin to house all your components...

Then it is just a simple case of soldering all the components together, as per my video. Ensuring that you match the +ve and -ve terminals correctly on both the batteries and USB modules, which should be clearly marked. Depending on your choice of solar panel, you will need to provide the appropriate means of linking the panel to the USB Charging Module PCB Board. I chose to use a SOLAR POWER CAR PANEL BATTERY TRICKLE CHARGER 12V 1.5W This I have found to be quite adequate, anymore I think would be overkill. I suppose the size of panel depends on how portable you would like the system to be. This particular solar panel fits discreetly in my window, but works well enough to charge my devices.

Once you are happy everything is correctly wired, connect your solar panel and you should see a little red light start to blink on your USB Charging Module PCB Board. And once you connect your USB device, whether it be your mobile phone, iPad or Kindle, the red LED will light up on your 3V To 5V USB Step Up Boost Module

Mount everything neatly in a suitable housing and your good to go... I didn't bother with a battery holder in the project I worked on, but I think it would make things a lot neater and user friendly if you incorporated one in your setup. Make sure you get the battery holder that has the cells wired in parallel, giving you a 3.7v battery bank.

Monitoring My DIY Home Solar System Battery Bank

Having recently completed the first stages of my DIY home solar garage project, I wanted to make a more permanent fixture for monitoring the battery bank. Currently I am using a multimeter, connected to the load side of the charge controller. And when I want to check the battery bank voltage, I switch the load connections to on and switch on my multimeter.

This works ok but ties up the load side of the charge controller, which I want to use for LED lighting. Using the mode switch on the charge controller I can switch the lights on/off at set intervals, which will be ideal for security lighting around the outside of my garage.

And so, I ordered myself some cheap and cheerful 12v LED volt meters, along with a small toggle switch. I mounted the volt meter in the faceplate which you saw on the previous video, using a Dremmel tool to cut out the hole to mount the meter in. And with the addition of the toggle switch and some wiring... Hey Presto !... An easy to use battery bank voltage indicator, which can be switched on or off as and when required, to save battery. I did find that if I left the meter on continuously it would drain the battery (slowly). I have also added a UK Plug Power Energy Analyzer, which I can use to check how many watts an appliance is using (which is handy) and also how much money I am saving by running appliances on my home solar garage system.

How I Built My First Simple Home Solar System For My Garage

In this post I hope to explain how I built my first simple diy solar system, that I hope will eventually mean my entire garage can be powered off grid. Of course the system I'm going to show you here won't be powerful enough to completely run the garage's electricity requirements. This is simply, me learning about solar, the components involved, how they are connected and how the whole system behaves once installed.

Once I have learnt more about the system and how best to monitor performance, I will then upgrade some of the components, add sockets and lights etc. Initially I will be just happy to charge my mobile phone and perhaps the batteries for some of my power tools.

I started this project about 3 weeks ago, due to bad weather and the fact I had a cough, so I was unable to get out onto the hills, as I would normally do in my spare time. This seemed like an interesting project to get into and I had already seen other people doing a similar thing in their sheds or cabins. As I don't have a shed, I decided the garage would be the perfect location.

I made a start preparing the area that my system would be mounted and used scraps of wood from around the garage to create a control panel, battery bank and inverter shelf, plus an area for all my appliances to be plugged in to my free electricity source.

To create the control panel, I fixed 2 strips of 2" x 1" wood to the wall, then found a piece of marine ply, that I then cut to size and screwed into the strips on the wall. This created a void behind the panel to run all my wiring and fix terminal blocks, keeping the appearance of the finished panel neat and tidy.The panel is roughly a meter above the location of the battery bank.

To save space on the platform beneath my bench top, I decided to suspend a small shelf directly under the bench. This would keep the batteries nicely out of the way, leaving me ample room below for my inverter and associated sockets. Plus an area to charge all my appliances, such as mobile phone, battery drill, torches etc.

With a nice clear platform, I could now fashion an angled plinth, to mount my 4 gang 240v power strip, that was to be fed by the 400w 12v-240v inverter. The inverter would be located on yet another small shelf, beneath the battery bank, again neatly out of the way, but easy to access and operate.

The main structural work for the project was more or less complete, awaiting the arrival of my various components. First to arrive were the four 7ah sealed lead acid batteries, which I purchased off ebay for £27.00 (inc postage). I went for this initial battery arrangement as they are easy to handle and were relatively cheap.

To create a 12v 28ah battery bank I wired the batteries in parallel, using some relatively heavy duty wire and a terminal block. Initially I had the positive and negative feed coming off the last battery in the bank, but after watching a few videos and a bit of research, it seems the better option is take the positive from one end and the negative from the other (Which I have now done - see photo). This averages out the charge and discharge of the four batteries, rather than one of the batteries taking all the abuse.

With the battery bank now wired up, I moved them up onto their nice new shelf and wired the positive and negative leads into a terminal block, mounted on the leg of my bench, directly underneath the control panel.

Next item to be delivered by the postman was my Draper 400w 12v-240v inverter, which cost £18.00 (inc P&P) and that went straight onto its purpose built shelf, beneath the battery bank and was wired into the terminal block along with the feeds from the batteries. The cables in the flexible conduit goes upto an isolator switch, then continues on up to the control panel.

At this point I carried out a quick test of the inverter, by connecting up to the 4 gang power strip and plugging a small battery drill in to ensure it was charging ok... And it was... success !

Then, everything else I needed to complete the main part of the project, all came at once. The AKT 40w solar panel kit and 10A charge controller from Sunsprite Solar, plus an additional extension lead complete with MC4 connectors, that I would use to connect the solar panel into the charge controller without having to cut off the MC4 connectors. Plus a 6 way fuse board (£5.99) and 3 gang light switch (£2.66) With it still raining outside, I tucked myself away in the garage and set to work cabling up and fixing the various components to the control panel (which I have now sprayed a neat looking matt black).

I always like to work in my garage with the main door open, as it allows me to keep an eye on what's going on in the street, plus I can keep an eye on the kids whilst I'm working. But, as it was chucking it down with rain and I was quite obviously working with solar panels, I got quite few funny looks from dog walkers and people passing by, wondering what I was up to. They must of thought I was wasting my time, due to the conditions. But as I was to find out, even in poor weather conditions you will still produce some energy to trickle charge your battery bank, which in my mind is an added bonus.

First to be mounted to the panel was the 6 way fuse board. I then drilled access holes to route the wires from the fuse panel to the back of the control panel, where the wires could then be distributed to the charge controller, solar panel, switches etc. I used cable crimps to secure the wires into the fuse panel.

Next up were the 3 gang light switch and the 10a charge controller. The charge controller was very easy to wire up, thanks to the simple diagrammatical instructions on the front of the controller and the robust terminals, which allowed for reasonably thick gauge wire. Again I used drilled access holes for the cabling to run behind the panel.

The last item to connect was the all important 40w AKT monocrystaline solar panel, complete with 5m fly leads and MC4 connectors. These would simply connect directly to the shorter lead that was already wired into the control panel, fuse board and switch. I was very impressed with the quality of this panel (even though I have never purchased one before, it just felt sturdy).

All that remained now was to switch everything on, check all the indicator lights were doing what they were supposed to be doing. Monitor the voltage with my meter, power up the inverter and try charging a few appliances with my free electricity. And do you know what ? It only bloomin' well worked !

What an interesting and rewarding little project this has turned out to be. I thoroughly enjoyed putting this simple home solar system together and have the guys at Sunsprite Solar to thank for their really informative website, which is full of great advice and tutorials to help solar newbies like myself get up and running in no time at all. I now look forward to adding extra features like LED lighting, volt meters, sockets etc. And ultimately I hope to go completely off grid in my garage. So please call back and see how I get on in the future, with my DIY simple home solar system.

Simple DIY Home Solar Project - Off Grid Garage - Part 1

How to produce your own free electricity... Recently embarked on a new project and decided to learn a little more about producing my own electricity. After hours of research on Youtube and Sunsprite Solar's fantastic website, I finally purchased a basic 40w solar panel kit, complete with 10a charge controller.

Within a relatively short space of time, I had connected up all the system components and the appropriate battery and solar charge lights were blinking away nicely. Success, I was now producing my own electricity... Can it really be that simple ?

Well the straight answer is, Yes ! Essentially, all you require for a basic home solar setup is : 1. Solar Panel 2. Charge Controller 3. Battery

I decided to purchase the 40w AKT Solar Panel Kit from Sunsprite Solar, which included a monocrystaline panel with 5m of heavy duty cable complete with MC4 connectors and a 10a MPV charge controller. This cost me £89.99 and I have to say I am very impressed with the quality of the components I received. I also purchased 4 x 7ah sealed lead acid batteries (£27.00 from ebay), which would form my battery bank. Any sort of deep cycle leisure battery, UPS or alarm battery will do, depending on the size of your system and what you intend to power from it. Then its just a simple case of connecting the three components together, as per the easy to follow schematic instructions printed on the front of most charge controllers.

I wanted a bit more functionality adding to my system, so I included a few extra items, such as a fuse panel, switches, 12v to 240v 400w inverter and a 4 gang power strip. These are not essential for producing your own electricity, but gives you more control over your system and allows you more options for what appliances you can supply.

Now that my system is up and running, I plan to add more monitoring features, led lighting and a 12v socket on the control panel. Eventually I would like to make my entire garage completely off grid, so there will be more posts to come in the future, as and when I expand my simple diy home solar project.