Solar Power for Ham Radio, a presentation - Ham Radio Q&A

This is an educational presentation I gave on setting up a solar system for use with amateur radio. It goes into the components necessary and talks on how to select the right pieces for your solar project.
Resources:
Sol Buck Boost Charge Controllers: www.diysolarforyou.com
Victron Energy: www.victronenergy.com
DIY Solar with Will Prowse: / willprowse
Hobotech Mobile Off Grid Tech: / hobotech
KB9VBR VHF/UHF Antennas:
www.jpole-antenna.com
Become a patron! Unlock exclusive content at: / kb9vbrantennas
Support Ham Radio Q&A by shopping at Amazon: amzn.to/2kO6LH7
Timestamp:
00:00 Introduction
01:10 Essential components for solar power
02:54 Solar Panels
04:31 Charge Controllers
08:35 PWM vs MPPT Charge Controller
13:52 Storage Batteries
21:11 Power Monitor
22:56 Putting it together: Solar powered camping trailer
29:46 Resources
30:57 Conclusion
Video Production Equipment:
Camera amzn.to/2GV2Og1
Lens amzn.to/2GWC5zU
Wireless Microphone: amzn.to/2qt3vDc
Microphone: amzn.to/30lJheO
Music by license:
www.premiumbeats.com
www.sonata.media
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Contact Information:
Questions, comments, or business inquiries may be directed to [e-mail]. If you wish for your product to be featured on my channel, please contact me.
#SolarPower #SolarHam #MPPTvsPWM

[@jameski5oeb668]

Great presentation! Thanks Michael!

[@mikemiles3068]

Nice presentation Michael❗️living here close to the Gulf coast here in Texas I have converted all of my ham shack to be able to operate on battery power recharged by solar power. Never know when we get another hurricane 🌀 like last weekend ❗️👍✅

[@1polonium210]

Same here! My goal is to convert my shack entirely to solar ... using Gosun batteries and panels and Bioenno batteries and panels.

[@frankwc0o]

So cool to talk about a topic you figured out and to help others. Great job.

[@zerog2000]

Will Prowse’s channel is one of the best around!

[@wild-radio7373]

Appreciate it :) Be well hamFam!♡♡♡

[@homebrewham2786]

great presentation michael, answered a lot of questions for my off grid shack 👍👍

[@jampskan5690]

Most helpful diy solar video for portable ops on youtube!

[@okbanlon]

Wow! Thank you so much for this in-depth presentation! I appreciate it very much!

[@vaunsphotography6820]

Pretty comprehensive coverage.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

Great info! Thanks for sharing!

[@johng7rwf419]

Good presentation, thank you Michael...

[@amudlifecrisis]

Haha, the rabbit hole! I dove straight into the deep end myself. I'm up to 2.4kW of panels, dual charge controllers, 4 batteries @ almost 1000aH. Wired outlets around the house off a 3000w inverter. It's addictive! I've even got the shunt connected to the internet so I can monitor everything while away. Nice presentation.

[@K3JRZOnTheAir]

Awesome info on solar!

[@manoffaith2501]

I had very little knowledge of solar cell power generation to charge a battery. After watching your excellent video I feel very well versed on this subject. Thank you for an excellent presentation. 73, KE8NQL

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Excellent. This was meant as an introduction, so I'm glad you found it useful.

[@MrStanwyck]

Thanks for the video. It was very informative….

[@JohnBaker3000]

Nice! Thank you!

[@TonyLing]

4:31 Yay Victron !

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

Genasun for ham radio MPPT. Buddipole Power Mini 2 PWM as well. Both are RF quiet...YGWYPF!

[@chucksw1]

Good explanation!

[@chucksw1]

You can get 100ah Lipo batteries rather inexpensive now;)

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Inexpensive 100ah batteries are starting to break below the $400 price point.

[@thuff3207]

One point of LI and LIFEP04 is the number of times you can change the battery. The recharge rate is in the 2000 range where Lead Acid cannot get there. Point is they last longer making them lower cost.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

You are correct, total cost of ownership is often lower with LifFePO4 batteries.

[@dougdunlap5889]

more great info

[@W5BLX]

Dude first off love your antennas. Second thanks for your informative video. 73 de W5BLX

[@rayslinky]

Great presentation.

[@humblehim]

Hello! New to your channel and I've learned a lot. I'm looking for someone that has built a backpack style radio bag. I'm wanting to learn what I need as far as which panel, battery, and antenna. Can you make a video about this?? Thank you so much!

[@fnscooter]

Would it be possible to build a system with both a PWM and MPPT controller so that you could switch to the PWM when you want to operate but keep charging?

[@charlieoscar09]

Hi theree is it possible you could a video about your trailer.......Thanks for this presentation video

[@ryansullivan5782]

Michael, Thank you for this video! So helpful! Couple of thoughts/questions: 1. During the presentation if others are speaking (far from the microphone), please repeat (or summarize) what they said so the KZbin audience can understand where the conversation just went. It seemed like several people had very helpful opinions/experince that I couldn't understand. 2. I've seen quite a few controllers that support "Lithium" batteries, but how do I know if they support LiFePO batteries? Are they the same thing or close enough? 3. Is it safe to run electronics (especially our expensive electronics/radios) while charging? Can you help us know about situations where it would be a bad idea to be running electronics? For example, the battery is almost exhausted and a thick cloud passes overhead, could every device gets a brown-out (low-voltage) that might cause damage to some/all of the devices?

[@frankieaufhauser3023]

most interesting. how can MPPT RFI hash avoided ?

[@steelcasegenericrun6935]

Can you install both and switch whenever needed either when you don’t want noises or when you need more power ?

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

I suppose you could, it would add a fair amount of complexity to your system.

[@gpocat4518]

I use solar to run my Echolink radio. My problem is that my shack is on the North side of the house and doesn't receive direct sunlight. I wish I could put my 100W panels on the sunny side of the house to get full potential of the panels to keep the battery charged. About every 7 days I have to turn the radio off and let the battery charge. :(

[@randyn5ilq165]

Thank you Michael. Think small, for small batteries, say 6-10 ah, watt is the watts needed to charge them ?

[@mrsunhackervloger6652]

10-20watt Is Enough

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

A 25 watt panel will charge a fully discharged 10ah battery in a few hours (assuming you have full sun).

[@randyn5ilq165]

@@KB9VBRAntennas thank you Michael

[@russkruse]

PWM or NOT always cheap. MPPT can be also like Harbor Freight cheapies. I bought a PWM marine Voyager and it's Definately not cheap.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

With charge controllers, you get what you pay for. Like you mentioned, you can find cheap MPPT charge controllers that are absolute junk, and high quality PWM charge controllers that rival an MPPT in price. But excluding the bottom end of the market, a quality PWM controller will be more inexpensive than a comparable MPPT one.

[@madmoe1]

I couldn’t help but notice the Badger jacket. Assuming your in Wisconsin? I’m wondering what Club you’re with.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

Yep, I'm in Wisconsin. The club I'm presenting to is the Wisconsin Valley Radio Association based out of Wausau.

[@madmoe1]

@@KB9VBRAntennas Awesome. I’m Beaver Dam, 45 minutes north of Madison. I have a question you may be able to answer. I’m brand new to the hobby. I’ve had my call sign for a few weeks and gearing up for my General. Here’s the question, If I was to make a simple three element yagi, does the center mast need to be nonconducting or can it be aluminum? Most of the videos I’ve seen show the mast out of pvc tubes or the like.

[@KB9VBRAntennas]

The antenna elements need to be isolated from the mast or support bar if you are using something like aluminum. PVC is nonconductive so the elements can be directly connected. If you use aluminum, there will need to be something insulating to separate the element from the support.

[@russkruse]

I dislike the MPPT controller. Way to many are not correctly charging and much more complicated Most or Chinese junk too!