On 12/29/2020 1:36 PM, krasw wrote:
On Tuesday, 29 December 2020 at 18:52:35 UTC+2, jfitch wrote:
I'd be amazed if you had room for a Victron in your glider. Both Victron and Genasun make generally good stuff. From the data sheets, the Victron efficiency is "98% peak" and the Genasun is "94 - 99.85% typical". These are effectively the same. What do you find appalling?
On Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 8:03:58 AM UTC-8, Soartech wrote:
On Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 10:42:19 AM UTC-5, krasw wrote:
Any ideas for Strobl controller replacement? The voltage is not enough for LFP battery. Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/10 looks good, but according to specs Strobl solar cell voltage is not enough to start the unit (!). Genasun has appalling efficiency.
We need more info: how many Volts does your cell put out? What is the battery type and size in Watt-hours? What aircraft is this on?

Genasun consumes 150mA, six times more than Victron (25 mA). My solar panel produces 550mA (via Strobl controller). Genasun robs almost third of the panel produced power.

I've often thought of adding small solar panels in my glider to extend
the battery life, but when I do the math it makes no sense. Most
gliders have very limited room for solar panels (unless you glue the
flexible type outside the cockpit). I am surprised you got 550 mA,
that's about 7 watts. But that's probably peak, when the panel is
perfectly aligned towards the sun, and not under a cloud, and the
average would be much lower, probably 200 mA or less. Meanwhile people
have been loading their gliders with so much electronics that they say
they need TWO 12AH batteries to last a flight. Let's take the example
of a 1-amp average load, i.e., one 12AH LFP battery (or two SLAs) would
last 12 hours. Add a 200mA-average solar charging setup and that
reduces the load on the battery to 0.8 amps, extending the battery life
to 15 hours. Useful?