I have a small solar panel that I salvaged from a fence charger that outputs 10.45v in full sunlight. I want to mount it on my tractor (6v, positive ground system) to keep the battery charged. I would like to wire it permanently into the electrical system without it effecting or being affected by the (generator) charging system. I found this schematic in an older thread:
I ordered the parts from Mouser and bread-boarded the circuit. With these component values (and my solar panel) I can dial the output of the regulator from 1.2v through 7.9v max. The completed circuit outputs 6.79v max. The original description of the circuit is for 12v input and 9v out from the regulator. Can anyone suggest better resistor values for the voltage divider so that the regulator will output 9v with the input of 10.45v from my panel? Also, I added a diode between the charger output to the battery to isolate the circuit from the generator when the tractor is running. Will this prevent the zener diode from reading the charge across the battery? Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, MT.
I ordered the parts from Mouser and bread-boarded the circuit. With these component values (and my solar panel) I can dial the output of the regulator from 1.2v through 7.9v max. The completed circuit outputs 6.79v max. The original description of the circuit is for 12v input and 9v out from the regulator. Can anyone suggest better resistor values for the voltage divider so that the regulator will output 9v with the input of 10.45v from my panel? Also, I added a diode between the charger output to the battery to isolate the circuit from the generator when the tractor is running. Will this prevent the zener diode from reading the charge across the battery? Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, MT.