Portable Solar Battery Charger

G'day

One of the problems with living on a rural block is flat batteries in machinery and vehicles. Running power leads for battery chargers is usually a problem and jump starting a flat battery will damage it.

I have built a portable solar charger out of bits I had laying around as per the photos.

I used an old twin pram, an old house 190 watt solar panel, some batten strap offcuts, a charge controller, a set of jumper leads and a small section of copper pipe for the switch. The copper switch is used as the battery has to be connected before the solar panel.

It took about an hour to make and works great. When I want to limit the current for trickle charging, I put a towel over part of the panel.

And also old twin prams are hard to find, I have just built another unit using 2 single prams tied together.

Nice!

Chris,

That is a great way to repurpose an old stroller.  You have some basic simplistic engineering in there.  I do have one question though.  I noticed that you are using alligator clips to charge the battery.  Is the device in any way switched so that those alligator clips can't accidentally touch one another such as in during setup?  I love to tinker and utilize solar energy, but one pesky aspect of solar is that panels simply can't be shut off.  They are always on and when I pull out one of my solar panels to charge up my battery pack, I have to take great care to not let the leads touch lest it short out.

This is all just a question I have about the design and I do not mean to take anything away from the device you have built.  I love it!

Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:Chris,

That is a great way to repurpose an old stroller.  You have some basic simplistic engineering in there.  I do have one question though.  I noticed that you are using alligator clips to charge the battery.  Is the device in any way switched so that those alligator clips can't accidentally touch one another such as in during setup?  I love to tinker and utilize solar energy, but one pesky aspect of solar is that panels simply can't be shut off.  They are always on and when I pull out one of my solar panels to charge up my battery pack, I have to take great care to not let the leads touch lest it short out.

This is all just a question I have about the design and I do not mean to take anything away from the device you have built.  I love it!

Eric

G'day
I built it out of what I could find. The clips are the good end of an old set of jumper leads. The copper tube is the switch that I use to connect the panel to the regulator after connecting to the battery. The other way to turn the panel "off" is to throw a towel or chaff bag over it.
A normal battery charger uses smaller clips and has the same risk of shorting out.
Maybe I am just careful but I have not had any dramas using it. And it is a lot easier than running out a long power lead or trying to jump start off something else.
I have also found it useful to setup a temporary power centre as I am off grid for all of my power. All of my panels, batteries and inverters came from scrounging. Since getting older money becomes scarce.
I am only throwing the idea out there as an easy way to handle solar panels.
I am glad you like the concept.
Regards

Chris,

I didn't see the copper tube in there, but that's a nice touch.  A basic, simple solution.

I could tell that the alligator clips were old jumper cables--but actually I like the addition.  I bet they make a good contact on the battery when you need it.  I also like that you made this basically out of parts that you had laying around.  And again, I have to say that I love the idea of mounting the solar panels on the stroller.  It makes it easy to roll into place, angle into the sun and point in the right direction.

Eric

I love repurposing! I will make this if I can get my hands on a pram. And I will add a battery sized shelf, if possible, above the back (big) wheels. That will give the unit more wind resistance (from the extra weight) and if/when I adjust for sun movement the battery will come right along.