Recent content by Brandon91man

@Averagesupernova Thank you, I will try out that experiment later.

So I have moved the shunt to each solar panel individually. What I found is that the shunt powers on with the poly panel but not the mono panel. When I measure the panels with my multimeter, the values come back pretty close to what I've measured before: (mono = 5V 5A) (poly = 16V 2A). When I...

These are the types of projects that get me pumped up over Arduino! I'd love to be able to make projects in Arduino and apply them to my house someday. Like automated window blinds, umbrellas with rain sensors that open when raining, a moving TV with a linear actuator, etc. (Also I've never made...

This makes things so much easier!

Thank you all, I don't know why but I couldn't find out if amperage would be an issue if it was too high. So if I got this correct, if I want to operate a DC device that's 12V 3A, I can connect it straight to a 12V car battery and it will just draw what it needs? Sounds too simple.

I knew there would be a loss in power when converting it, I wanted to use it to control amps and volts when powering different devices. Honestly it's to best option I could find to make a specific amount of volts and amps for an electronic device. For example, I ordered linear actuators from...

I've been reading: Uglys electrical references Make: Getting started with Arduino Make: Electronics Besides that I search on this forum, google, and YouTube (I watch multiple videos sometimes just to be sure) Thank you for telling me that, it's helpful to know!

I guess I don't necessarily need to know how they work, I just need to know enough to be able to buy and use them. Right now I don't feel comfortable enough to order them. I have checked Wikipedia and I'll look at it again and see if it helps. Thank you

I've built my own solar panel system and posted a thread. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/diy-solar-power-system.918484/ It's low voltage. I want to understand how to use DC/DC converters for the solar panels and eventually use these converters on small batteries to power peltier, fans...

Hello, I am trying to understand DC/DC converters because I want to use some with my solar panel system and I want to understand exactly how to use them in general. The videos I've looked up are confusing and I can't seem to find something to read that will help me understand. Is there some...

So I made a mistake and I'd like to ask everyone else's opinion about it. I have a 50 ah battery that I don't usually use with my solar power system, but I decided to charge it since my 35 & 7 ah batteries were fully charged. I disconnected the two smaller batteries from my charge controller...

@OmCheeto thank you! I appreciate your post.

Thanks for the heads up! Does anyone have feedback on making separate off grid solar power for large appliances that use up a lot of energy? (Like A/C & Heating, Washer/Dryer, Water heater, etc.) Any opinions on if it's worth the effort? Maintaining systems? A rough cost to savings ratio? I'm...

Well, for now I'm powering tablets and lights. My ultimate goal is to setup a grid tied system, but I also want to use them in projects and electronics too. For example, I want to eventually get to the point where I can build an electronic system that will use solar power to charge a battery...

@Averagesupernova Thanks to the both of you, I will try moving the shunt around and see what I find. Although this is the first time I've used a shunt and I didn't know you could connect it in different ways. And @berkeman I didn't know mixing different solar panels was a bad idea. So that's...