I've used Bob at Islandtime PC several times. Stand up company, and a pleasant guy if you have tech support questions on the phone.
12V Smart TV
- Thread starter CYQK
- Start date
Island time are good people and stand behind their products,
I made one 12 volt computer that I've used for most all my trips.
I built if for the low amperage draw. It and the monitor draw about 2 amps on the average and a little under 3 when the long distance WiFi radio is also on.
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-navigation/Compter-Nav-index.html
I have all the parts to build another that should be faster than the first. You can find 12 volt computers that are already to run as people use them in cars but you will pay more than building one yourself.
Sumner
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1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
My laptop steps down to 18v DC. With that in mind I see no problem with just tapping the solar panels 18v to use as a charger for your laptop battery. It might not work so well using the laptop at the same time you are charging though. Just brain concept and have never tried it. I have used solar panels as sole source operating voltage for an Igloo DC cooler though and it has worked for over 10 years! Merry Christmas! Chief
Im not sure what this all has to do with a "smart TV" and what does the smart mean in the that phrase..
I just wanted to add a caution regarding connecting a solar panel directly up to electronics. Chief is using a solar panel to drive one of those thermocouple coolers which is probably mostly a resistive load - NOT an electronic circuit. If you match a resistive load up to the panels maximum power point voltage and current, things work fine and the resistor receives the max power available from the panel. Resistor value is simply chosen by the panels maximum power point V and I (R = V/I). However, if the panel output moves off its maximum power point, the power to the resistive load will be less than the power that can be gained by something like a MPPT controller. It would be interesting to hear from Chief what voltages you measure into the cooler for different sun conditions to see how well you did match. Perfect single value impedance matching is not as efficient as using a MPPT controller and of course poor impedance matching is way less efficient than using a controller/ battery.
Running a solar panel directly into a modern electronic circuit such as a TV or computer.. You may get really lucky with how you match things and it works over a narrow range of sun. And you have a high change of not being lucky and burning out your electronics because the voltage the electronics got operated at was completely uncontrolled and all over the place.
People buy those consumer TV's that use a 12 volt adapter and run them off boat batteries all the time. Ive been doing this for a couple years now with no issues at all. You take a small risk doing this as the boat battery voltage can vary a lot more than the charger voltage does and this is never specified for the TV.. but I have not heard of anyone having a problem doing this..
I just wanted to add a caution regarding connecting a solar panel directly up to electronics. Chief is using a solar panel to drive one of those thermocouple coolers which is probably mostly a resistive load - NOT an electronic circuit. If you match a resistive load up to the panels maximum power point voltage and current, things work fine and the resistor receives the max power available from the panel. Resistor value is simply chosen by the panels maximum power point V and I (R = V/I). However, if the panel output moves off its maximum power point, the power to the resistive load will be less than the power that can be gained by something like a MPPT controller. It would be interesting to hear from Chief what voltages you measure into the cooler for different sun conditions to see how well you did match. Perfect single value impedance matching is not as efficient as using a MPPT controller and of course poor impedance matching is way less efficient than using a controller/ battery.
Running a solar panel directly into a modern electronic circuit such as a TV or computer.. You may get really lucky with how you match things and it works over a narrow range of sun. And you have a high change of not being lucky and burning out your electronics because the voltage the electronics got operated at was completely uncontrolled and all over the place.
People buy those consumer TV's that use a 12 volt adapter and run them off boat batteries all the time. Ive been doing this for a couple years now with no issues at all. You take a small risk doing this as the boat battery voltage can vary a lot more than the charger voltage does and this is never specified for the TV.. but I have not heard of anyone having a problem doing this..
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I have used DC 12v TV's for probably over 15 years and have never had any power source problems, I now use a controller and 240-300ah battery bank.
I am not as concerned about DC voltage control as Walt is as I think to use the solar panel as ONLY a charge source for a laptop battery the voltage variations will likely be of little risk. As I initially said: I would NOT use a solar panel direct for power while using the laptop. Won't know until someone tries it. Merry Christmas, Chief
I am not as concerned about DC voltage control as Walt is as I think to use the solar panel as ONLY a charge source for a laptop battery the voltage variations will likely be of little risk. As I initially said: I would NOT use a solar panel direct for power while using the laptop. Won't know until someone tries it. Merry Christmas, Chief
i confess i always go to amazon and read the 'poor' then the 'good' reviews on any electronic device i am inclined to buy ..