The forecast still insists we’ll have thunderstorms by eleven, a bit more than an hour from now. A glance at the sky tempts one to laugh…
…But experience says that when it dawns this windy, one shouldn’t try to predict the afternoon weather. It actually might rain today.
But in the meantime I’ve been waiting for a sunny morning because I want to note any measurable improvement in my solar power system’s charging ability.
With the existing panels giving me about 340 watts and the new bigger batteries, my system normally goes from Bulk Charge to Float at around eleven on a sunny morning. Depending on usage, of course.
All other things being equal, the addition of 45 watts of panel should have a measurable effect on that. But how much? Inquiring minds really do want to know. So I needed a cloudless morning to remove variables. Naturally the past two mornings have been overcast.
But not today!
And at 9:45, as Landlady and I returned from the shooting range, my system was still in Bulk but flirting with 14 volts. It goes into float at somewhere above 14.3, so looking good.
That means my system is still overpowered for its battery size, which is what I want. It was before, but now it’s a little more so. Not every day is cloudless.
ETA: Yup. It went to Float while I was typing that. So, measurable improvement.
