I was chatting offline with @woodgeek about this one and I figured I would post a short thread to share.
I've been wanting to make a small portable DC power station for a while now. Mostly this is an excuse to play with small solar by eventually adding a 50w panel and charge controller to make it completely self contained. To start with I am just charging off line power.
The primary practical application of this is to have a portable power system for hobby use (I fly R/C models) so I can power battery chargers and related items at our club field without being tethered to the truck. Secondary use will be to backup power for phone,tablet, flashlight, etc charging during blackouts at home when I don't feel like running the big genny.
Requirements:
* Reasonably portable (ie. not weigh a hundred lb)
* Enough battery capacity to run 12 volt battery chargers for loads ranging from small nicads up to medium size lithium batteries (6s 3ah packs or so) with enough capacity for a half dozen charges of the large sizes.
* multiple outputs for 12 volt DC and USB charging
* low maintenance battery
Basically we are building something like a Goal Zero power pack, at a fraction of the price. Read on...
I've been wanting to make a small portable DC power station for a while now. Mostly this is an excuse to play with small solar by eventually adding a 50w panel and charge controller to make it completely self contained. To start with I am just charging off line power.
The primary practical application of this is to have a portable power system for hobby use (I fly R/C models) so I can power battery chargers and related items at our club field without being tethered to the truck. Secondary use will be to backup power for phone,tablet, flashlight, etc charging during blackouts at home when I don't feel like running the big genny.
Requirements:
* Reasonably portable (ie. not weigh a hundred lb)
* Enough battery capacity to run 12 volt battery chargers for loads ranging from small nicads up to medium size lithium batteries (6s 3ah packs or so) with enough capacity for a half dozen charges of the large sizes.
* multiple outputs for 12 volt DC and USB charging
* low maintenance battery
Basically we are building something like a Goal Zero power pack, at a fraction of the price. Read on...
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