There's an almost unlimited amount of energy from the sun, so there's good reason to harness it wherever possible - and one way of this is to make a solar-powered battery charger. However doing so isn't as simple as connecting the panel to a battery, a carefully-crafter charge and monitoring circuit is required to ensure safe charging for the battery and the end user.
Thus we're happy to see a neat charger circuit documented by Instructables member skygate who has developed an efficient lead-acid battery charger that's up to 90% efficient even up to higher temperatures, and utilises an MPPT control system to ensure the battery is charged at the correct rate. This is an excellent example thanks to the level of detail with regards to the theory behing the charging circuit and quite educational.
So as summer is coming around soon this might be an ideal time to start researching solar charging via this Instructable. And for more, we're on facebook, Google+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.
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