solar battery

Solar Battery Charger

By Yudha Urawa

For two centuries the world has relied upon fossil fuel, mostly coal and oil, for almost every form of power. It lights our homes, powers our appliances and drives our cars. Unfortunately fossil fuels rely on combustion to release their power. Most houses will use less power during the day, and much less in the summer which is the peak power producing time for solar panels. To be effective this power must be stored somehow.

When you purchase a solar home installation with battery backup, one of the components you will need to select is a solar Charge Controller. Solar panels produce direct current, meaning the electricity from the panels flows in only one direction. The quality of the charge controller will directly affect the life of the backup batteries. When the battery is depleted of charge, the lead plates inside the battery are corroded.

The way a Solar Charger works is simple. The solar panel of the battery charger collects energy from the sun and converts this into electricity. One popular way of storing solar power is by connecting the solar panels to the existing electrical grid, effectively turning it into a massive solar battery. Any power outages can still affect these solar panel set-ups, but no rechargeable batteries have to be used.

Selecting a good quality charge controller will maximize the life of these batteries in a solar home system. Solar battery chargers are not a matter of fashion, they are gaining popularity with very good reasons. Most solar chargers are equipped with plug kits which match to variety of electric devices. There is no usage cost when using a solar battery charger as opposed to the utility electricity charger.

Now, there are many different types of solar battery chargers, as well as different types of batteries you might want to charge. As all solar battery chargers use some type of solar panel, the amount of power they generate generally depends on the size of the panels. Solar panels are made up of individual solar cells. The more solar cells there are on a solar panel, the more electricity they create. You might ask why one uses a solar charger to charge a battery, instead of just directly running one's equipment from a solar panel.

There are a variety of solar battery chargers and other portable solar power devices available on the market today. Typical batteries, especially lithium ion, have high capacity for storing power, but deliver a weak output and recharge slowly.

In comes the solar battery charger that allow you more independence when it comes to charging your batteries. Solar battery chargers are great for when you are camping or on a road trip. A solar battery charger can be used for more then cell phones, though. Give a solar battery charger a try and see what a difference it makes.

Check out my other article on electrical jobs