Aliexpress "120W" foldable solar panels - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2022, 11:00:50 am
content: Anyone used one of these foldable solar panels from aliexpress?https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004833781195.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdaptI'm interested in how much output are these actually capable. I'm guessing 120W is a tad optimistic

author: Jackster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2022, 01:14:54 pm
content: Probably lucky to get half the rated output in perfect conditions...

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2022, 04:35:16 pm
content: Quote from: Jackster on December 22, 2022, 01:14:54 pmI was thinking the same thing. Considering the rough area of the actual solar cells (i'd say about 0,4m2) and ~15% efficiency would yield 60W in good conditions. Guess i'll have to find out, they're cheap enough to try

author: bidrohini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 24, 2022, 01:21:17 pm
content: I think it's better to purchase from dependable sources like sparkfun and dfrobot.

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2022, 09:32:19 am
content: Quote from: bidrohini on December 24, 2022, 01:21:17 pmNot exactly viable for us outside of US...

author: bidrohini
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2023, 04:10:00 am
content: Quote from: hojnikb on December 26, 2022, 09:32:19 amYes, true. I am also from a country in south-east Asia. But here we have some official distributors of sparkfun and dfrobot. We can source products from them through distributors. You can check if there is an official distributor in your country.

author: trobbins
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 15, 2023, 07:17:46 am
content: Quote from: hojnikb on December 22, 2022, 04:35:16 pmWhat tests have you done so far? What testing are you capable of doing? Do you have any standard cells or commercial modules, or a local meteorological station that reports insolation that you can then use on a sunny mid-day, along with Isc and Voc?

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2023, 06:28:22 am
content: Quote from: trobbins on January 15, 2023, 07:17:46 amNo, i don't have any standard cells unfortionally. My plan is to use this as electric scooter charger during summer days. I got the product, but currently can't really use it, because we don't see much sun these days. I'm planning on testing power output when there's good sun, along with voltages and current.

author: trobbins
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2023, 07:30:01 am
content: Recharging any battery, and especially LiIon, requires very carefully designed and hopefully redundant protection against over-voltage and over-temperature - otherwise you risk a lot.

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2023, 08:18:40 am
content: Quote from: trobbins on January 20, 2023, 07:30:01 amMy plan is to use CC-CV boost regulator like thishttps://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005111717631.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.1d1213d03Y2uol&algo_pvid=aacbcef2-9f66-4bf3-b425-fbfea926070b&algo_exp_id=aacbcef2-9f66-4bf3-b425-fbfea926070b-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B"sku_id"%3A"12000031700308508"%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21EUR%2112.52%218.76%21%21%21%21%21%40211bf49716742915205774206d06eb%2112000031700308508%21sea&curPageLogUid=E4mtDPNxtn1Iand rely on BMS to do the cutoff, once the battery is fully charged. It's an electric scooter, so it has a pretty decent BMS built in already.

author: uer166
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2023, 03:41:40 am
content: Quote from: hojnikb on January 21, 2023, 08:18:40 amThis plan couldn't be worse. BMS cutoff is above a safe cell voltage and is only to be useful in case of a catastrophic charger failure. Get a real charger with accurate CC/CV controls, and set it to exactly the correct voltage that the battery expect. In fact the one you linked is capable of doing it.

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2023, 01:46:31 pm
content: Quote from: uer166 on January 22, 2023, 03:41:40 amThat's exactly what i'm planning on doing. Solar panels alone won't charge the battery anyway, since they have too low of an output voltage.As for the charger; the one i ordered above does CC-CV, but doesn't do cutoff to my understanding. I dont think there are 10s charger boards out there that would do CC-CV and cutoff. Especially not ones that can run off a solar panel. If there are any, a link would be great.

author: uer166
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2023, 10:15:08 pm
content: Ah, by cutoff, you mean "stop charging". No BMS would do that unless you're abusing it. There really is no need here, you can keep the battery on CV indefinitely with little wear-out. One of the best things you can do is drop the CV setting to less than 4.2V, say do 4.1 or 4.0 instead. That will increase the cycle lifetime massively.

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2023, 03:42:16 pm
content: Quote from: uer166 on January 22, 2023, 10:15:08 pmCool! I was thinkin of setting something like 40.5V or thereabouts. Original pack is rated for 42V, but original charger and BMS is "locked" to 41 to increase cycle life. So i guess setting to 40-40.5V would mean that charge rate when that voltage is hit would gradually taper off. Since i've left 1,5V before cells are actually full, i guess i should be good to go. It's not like its going to be plugged in with days on end.As i've said, i'll post actual numbers when i get the board and when we get some actual sun over here

author: trobbins
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2023, 11:04:40 pm
content: If there is a risk of overcharge to the point of thermal runaway (due to available PV power still being absorbed by battery even when all but one cell is full) then imho you need thermal protection and individual or group voltage sensing protection.

author: hojnikb
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2023, 04:04:42 pm
content: Quote from: trobbins on January 23, 2023, 11:04:40 pmThis is already built into the BMS already.