Solar power gorilla

Beth54 · Guru

Solar power gorilla

Beth54 · Guru

http://www.dynamicsolarsolutions.com.au/solar_battery_charger.htm

I found this on an older thread here, and I'm interested to know more about it.

Would this work okay to charge my laptop and mobile phone? I have an inverter for the laptop. Would I need to use that too, or plug it straight into the 'gorilla'?

The caravan battery will only be used for lighting, and it also came with a small solar panel for trickle charging the battery. But it won't be enough, so I'm told, to charge my laptop and mobile phone.

I want to be able to free camp for a week or so and still be able to use the laptop. And I'm trying to do it all as cheaply as possible.

Yuglamron · Guru

Hi Beth,

I had a look at the power Gorilla specs and found out that for my laptop which runs on 19 Volts and requires 4.7 amps the gorilla at 19 volts would only give you 2.5 amps. Not enough to run it.

You need to look at your computer/laptop and see what it's power specs are and go from there.

Safe Travels

Beth54 · Guru

Oh bu**er! Mines 19 too. I thought I'd hit on a great idea there. cry

Beth54 · Guru

Just copied this section of info from the site, so as I understand this, this one is okay. Yes?

Power Gorilla

The Power Gorilla battery pack will give you an extra 2-5 hours of power, depending on your laptop's specification and over 20 hours on various other electronic devices.

It will work with devices up to 24volts - so from your laptop, right the way down to your mobile phone or iPod! Just select which voltage you require 5v, 16v, 19v or 24v and the LCD screen will indicate which setting has been chosen. Then simply hook up your gadget and away you go!

PeterD · Guru

Beth, that depends how you are charging your battery.

You could get an hour or two per day if you purchased both the Power and the Solar Gorillas, but what is the price of them. Do you have solar charging of your house battery? You may find that you could add solar charging to your battery for not much more than the cost of the two units.

-- Edited by PeterD on Monday 26th of March 2012 02:59:11 AM

jimricho · Guru

The best solution for powering a laptop when mains power is not available is from your 12v system via a 12v laptop power supply such as this one http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3324&keywords=laptop+power&form=KEYWORD from Jaycar. There are other brands of similar devices on the market.

Beth54 · Guru

jimricho wrote:
The best solution for powering a laptop when mains power is not available is from your 12v system via a 12v laptop power supply such as this one http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3324&keywords=laptop+power&form=KEYWORD from Jaycar. There are other brands of similar devices on the market.

Yes I have this one Jim, thanks to previous advice from you.

But wouldn't it flatten my battery when I'm staying put for a week or so?

jimricho · Guru

I agree with Peter's solar panel option as you may find your house battery somewhat depleted after a couple of weeks without a recharge, even without the load of the laptop.

Also consider that you can plug in your laptop, via the adaptor mentioned above, while travelling using the cig lighter socket in your car. This will recharge the laptop's internal battery. The laptop does not have to be switched on to do this, in fact it's better if it isn't.

Check EBay for solar panels. I recently bought an 80 watt folding unit for $209. I've tested it against a full price unit and the output is the same. My "el cheapo" job is not quite as physically robust as the dearer one and the dearer one has a better quality carry bag. I mostly "camp" on powered sites so mine won't be getting a lot of use.

-- Edited by jimricho on Monday 26th of March 2012 10:01:01 AM

Beth54 · Guru

Yes, I think I've gone off the Gorilla, and should just go with a solar panel and be done with it.

The caravan came with a small panel that fits onto the corner of the roof, but I don't know what wattage it is. it's only about 40 x 40 from memory.

My son has an 80w but I'm not sure that would be enough for me.

I found this one on ebay. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LOOK-120-W-12v-Solar-Panel-Power-BOAT-CAMPING-ETC-1300-/170796168263?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item27c43eb447

It doesn't say what the dimensions are, but I'd have to be able to handle it on my own.

jimricho · Guru

My thoughts here would be stick with what you already have until you find out if you need more.

Ron and Shirley · Senior Member

Beth54 wrote:
Yes, I think I've gone off the Gorilla, and should just go with a solar panel and be done with it.
The caravan came with a small panel that fits onto the corner of the roof, but I don't know what wattage it is. it's only about 40 x 40 from memory.
My son has an 80w but I'm not sure that would be enough for me.
I found this one on ebay. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LOOK-120-W-12v-Solar-Panel-Power-BOAT-CAMPING-ETC-1300-/170796168263?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item27c43eb447
It doesn't say what the dimensions are, but I'd have to be able to handle it on my own.

Beth
Are you looking for a solar panel fixed to the roof of your van or a portable solar panel (eg folding type kit which usually includes the regulator).

That panel in your link is a single panel and will be approx 1200 X 800 X 35 mm and about Weight 11 to 12Kg and probably should be fixed to the roof and connected via a suitable regulator (extra cost) to your batttery.

Tend to agree with Jimricho, try what you have got and see how you go.

Beth54 · Guru

Thanks Ron/Shirley for clearing that up for me. The small one that came with the van fits on the roof, but I don't think that's ideal. It seems I'd be better with one I can move around to follow the sun.

Thanks for the advice folks.

aussiebobc · Member

Hi Beth,

On our recent sojourn to Tasmania, we spent half our time at places where we had 240V and half free camping.

At one stage we stopped at a beautiful spot where we spent three weeks without 240V power, in that time we managed to run 3 computers for about 3 hours a day, a TV for an average of three hours a day plus all our lights, water pump and the CD player, all on a 120Watt portable panel.

Its all a matter of working out what you can run on solar/battery with what capacity you have onboard.

Beth54 · Guru

Gee, that's awesome!

So if I just want to recharge the laptop and phone, run a couple of lights, maybe 80w would be enough?

aussiebobc · Member

80 watts could be fine, it depends on how long you stay away from 240volts or how long you stay at a site with out charging from the vehicle.

Look at it conservatively. You have a 100AH battery in the van, drive four hours during the day, worst case put 12Amps from the cars alternator into the battery so its fully charged unless you drained it down too much overnight..

From measurements I have made with fully charged computers running flat out, they draw less than 2.5 amps ( the only time they draw 4.7 is when the batteries are flat and the laptop battery is charging as well).

We use an inverter to run the computers which shuts off when the power runs low ( this has only happenned once to us because the van was not set up on delivery to recharge the battery when driving and relied on 240V to recharge). This still leaves enough residual capacity to fire the igniter on the fridge although not enough to start the TV. Aftyer discovering this, and some rewiring, we have never had anything shutdown.

There were, and I am sure, will be again, days when the sun don't shine and you have to adapt your power usage to what is available. Those days we just shut down the computers, turn off the TV, and enjoy this great country.

PeterD · Guru

Beth54 wrote:
I found this one on ebay. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LOOK-120-W-12v-Solar-Panel-Power-BOAT-CAMPING-ETC-1300-/170796168263?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item27c43eb447
It doesn't say what the dimensions are, but I'd have to be able to handle it on my own.

That looks a bit expensive to me, I would expect a good regulator to be included for that price.

I would be inclined to replace the on on the roof with a 100 W panel. I reckon that the one you have now is just for maintaining the battery and not charging it. You may have to replace the regulator (if there is one installed) as the existing one may be too small.

I would not be stuffing around with portable panels. Just get one that is a size or two larger than you think you could get away as a portable panel. As well as the thefr problems (of portables) you don't have to worry about shifting it around. It is always in place workingfor you. Mine starts charging before I even get out of bed.

Clyde Camel · Veteran Member

The thing you need to be aware of is that the low cost inverters that plug into your cigarette lighter are not usually pure sine wave inverters. The make a very noisy output which can cause the power supply for the computer to heat up. Worth keeping an eye on this or you may blow the power supply.

jimricho · Guru

Clyde Camel wrote:
The thing you need to be aware of is that the low cost inverters that plug into your cigarette lighter are not usually pure sine wave inverters. The make a very noisy output which can cause the power supply for the computer to heat up. Worth keeping an eye on this or you may blow the power supply.

Some time ago a forum member posted some pictures of an oscilloscope trace of a (so called) modified sine(?) wave inverter. After seeing those I wouldn't put a MSW inverter anywhere near a laptop!

(for the non-techies an Oscilliscope is a specialised test instrument that enables electrical waveforms to be viewed on a screen)

PeterD · Guru

Clyde Camel wrote:
The thing you need to be aware of is that the low cost inverters that plug into your cigarette lighter are not usually pure sine wave inverters.

The biggest problem with plugging inverters into cigarette lighter sockets is that those circuits are generally not designed to carry the current. The sockets themselves are extremely poor in construction and not good for more than a couple of amps for extended periods. The wiing to them is generally too light as well.

I have merrit sockets in my van (they are heaps better than cigarette lighter ones.) I have heavier wiring than usual. However the socket that is 2.5 metres from the battery is marginal for loads of around 50 W. It certainly will notcarry a bigger load. For my new (and more power hungry) laptop I have opted for a DC power supply for it, the merrit connector is only 1/2 a metre from the battery and I have used larger wire than is through the van.

Clyde Camel · Veteran Member

jimricho wrote:
Some time ago a forum member posted some pictures of an oscilloscope trace of a (so called) modified sine(?) wave inverter. After seeing those I wouldn't put a MSW inverter anywhere near a laptop!
(for the non-techies an Oscilliscope is a specialised test instrument that enables electrical waveforms to be viewed on a screen)

Hey Jim... Have you ever wondered what a square wave is? Here is the forumla.

Fundamental frequency + 3rd harmonic at 1/3 amplitide + 5th harmonic at 1/5th amplitude + 7th harmonic at 1/7th amplitide ... and so on to infinity. The more harmonics you add, the sharper the corners are on the wave form.

That is why a square wave is so noisy.