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Hi
I am very new to the Solar world and have been learning what I can to get started. I am on a budget and don't want to get initial spending in the wrong place and have that put me off learning so I am hoping to find help from a community so I get off to the best start possible.
I have been looking to use a battery I already have. Its a Celestron Powertank Lithium LT, typically used for powering a telescope but it also has USB out so can be used to charge small devices. As I have this battery I wanted to create my first setup using that so I keep initial costs down.
I have been looking for a relatively inexpensive first panel, I would spend around £100 but can be flexible to get a decent panel that in the future has other uses, I think the panels I have looked at so far would all be a decent fit.
I think the area I need help with the the Charge Controller, I need to make sure I get the correct one so I don't harm the battery I have and I am a little confused about this. Again I would spend around £100 as I am sure that would give me flexibility in the future for, new batteries and panels.
So I guess the question is which charge controller do I start with. The battery has an input of 16VDC@2000ma (that still doesn't mean loads to me but I'm learning). From what I can tell most change controllers will determine this about the battery and set the correct charge for the battery to get the best from the panel without harming the battery.
Is that a correct assumption? Would most controllers work in this situation.
Any help would be really appreciated for this newbie.
Thanks in advance.
I am very new to the Solar world and have been learning what I can to get started. I am on a budget and don't want to get initial spending in the wrong place and have that put me off learning so I am hoping to find help from a community so I get off to the best start possible.
I have been looking to use a battery I already have. Its a Celestron Powertank Lithium LT, typically used for powering a telescope but it also has USB out so can be used to charge small devices. As I have this battery I wanted to create my first setup using that so I keep initial costs down.
I have been looking for a relatively inexpensive first panel, I would spend around £100 but can be flexible to get a decent panel that in the future has other uses, I think the panels I have looked at so far would all be a decent fit.
I think the area I need help with the the Charge Controller, I need to make sure I get the correct one so I don't harm the battery I have and I am a little confused about this. Again I would spend around £100 as I am sure that would give me flexibility in the future for, new batteries and panels.
So I guess the question is which charge controller do I start with. The battery has an input of 16VDC@2000ma (that still doesn't mean loads to me but I'm learning). From what I can tell most change controllers will determine this about the battery and set the correct charge for the battery to get the best from the panel without harming the battery.
Is that a correct assumption? Would most controllers work in this situation.
Any help would be really appreciated for this newbie.
Thanks in advance.