Hi all,
I would like to run a very small 12V DC pond pump, Imax = 300mA from 2 x 5W solar panels. Given the low impedance of the motor, connecting it directly to the panels doesn't result in the motor starting up. With a small bank of 3 x 3.7V Li-ion batteries in series as plan B, I wondered if there might be a simpler way (Plan A) of 'soft-starting' the motor or similar. Something along the lines of perhaps 5,000 - 10,000uF of capacitors to act as interim store, charge up, to provide the motor with enough 'grunt' to start. If I have batteries in the circuit, of course, there are aspects of monitoring under-charge, over-charge, etc.
Any thoughts? I do have about 20 x 1000uF caps lying around which might be ideal. They are rated at 16V, so I'd employ something along the lines of a 13V zener mechanism to ensure they didn't get cooked
kind regards
Barno
I would like to run a very small 12V DC pond pump, Imax = 300mA from 2 x 5W solar panels. Given the low impedance of the motor, connecting it directly to the panels doesn't result in the motor starting up. With a small bank of 3 x 3.7V Li-ion batteries in series as plan B, I wondered if there might be a simpler way (Plan A) of 'soft-starting' the motor or similar. Something along the lines of perhaps 5,000 - 10,000uF of capacitors to act as interim store, charge up, to provide the motor with enough 'grunt' to start. If I have batteries in the circuit, of course, there are aspects of monitoring under-charge, over-charge, etc.
Any thoughts? I do have about 20 x 1000uF caps lying around which might be ideal. They are rated at 16V, so I'd employ something along the lines of a 13V zener mechanism to ensure they didn't get cooked
kind regards
Barno