REUK.CO.UK
The Renewable Energy Website
This is the printer friendly version of the Solar Charge Controllers on eBay article from the Renewable Energy Website REUK.co.uk.
Click here to print
this article.Printed at 07:51am 21st November 2009
Solar Charge Controllers on eBay
Find out about the selection of solar charge controllers available on ebay
In our article Solar Charge Controller (1) we introduced some of the devices used to control (or regulate) the amount of charge going from PV solar panel(s) (2) to the battery bank (3). Batteries (4) can easily be damaged by overcharging or excessively discharging them, so a good quality solar charge controller is a vital component of any reliable solar powered system.
Solar Charge Controllers on eBay
Every day on eBay (5) a good range of solar charge controllers are available for sale - for example, at the end of July 2008 there were 75 items found matching the search Solar Controller -Panel (6) on eBay UK ranging in price from £0.99 to £73.
Toward the top of the price range was the 45A 12/24V solar charge controller pictured above with an LCD display. Offered for sale at just £63.99, this German produced solar regulator has virtually every feature you could ever ask for: PWM charging, automatic selection of input voltage (12 or 24V), high voltage disconnection (HVD), low voltage disconnetion (LVD), intelligent temperature compensation, overload protection, short circuit protection, reverse current protection, reverse polarity protection, and a display to show the state of charge (SOC) and discharge. This controller could be used with up to 500 Watts of solar panels in a 12V system, or 1kW in a 24V system.
In the middle of the price range was the 25A 12/24V solar charge controller pictured above, again with an LCD display. Offered at just £39.99, this Wellsee WS-C2425 solar controller offers all the same features as the more expensive unit presented earlier, but for <25A systems - 300W at 12V or 600W at 24V.
Of interest to most people are the 12 Volt solar charge controllers designed for slightly smaller systems of around 5 to 20 Amps (60W to 240W). These are typically priced at around £20-25 for 10-20A units, and around £15 for most 5-10 Amp units.
Pictured above is a Chinese solar charge controller rated at 12V 5 Amps which offers PWM charging, automatic temperature compensation, and overload, over discharge, and short circuit protection. This was priced at just £11 plus £3 for postage.
Choosing a Solar Charge Controller
The key things to look out for are PWM charging (introduced here (7)) as this will get the most charge into your batteries, and the maximum power rating of the controller. It is best to purchase a good quality controller slighting over-rated for your planned system so that you have a little room for expansion later. Also, don't forget to add the postage charge to the sale price of the controller so you can compare total costs fairly.Here are the latest eBay solar charge controller listings:
Web Link References
(1) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Charge-Controller.htm(2) http://www.reuk.co.uk/How-Do-PV-Solar-Panels-Work.htm
(3) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Interconnecting-Batteries-for-Battery-Bank.htm
(4) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Lead-Acid-Batteries.htm
(5) http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?type=1&campid=5336041302&toolid=10001&customid=
(6) http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?type=3&campid=5336041302&toolid=10001&customid=&ext=solar+controller+-panel&satitle=solar+controller+-panel
(7) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Charge-Controller.htm
Article from REUK.co.uk:
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Charge-Controllers-on-eBay.htm
Published: 29th July 2008
© REUK 2009