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Retevis RT-97 Battery Size Recommendation


Guest Brandon

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
On 3/21/2023 at 12:37 PM, Lscott said:

Have you considered swapping out the simple PWM charge controller for a MPPT type? In theory it should allow you to capture more energy and store it in the battery. With large changes in solar radiance and panel temperatures this will make a noticeable improvement IMHO.

These controllers seem to work rather well. For about 100 watts of panel power a 10 amp controller would be right for your application.

https://sunforgellc.com/product/gv-10/

 

Which solar charge controller PWM-or-MPPT.pdf 2.32 MB · 3 downloads

I play solar all the time.  I have a system in my truck I use to power tools and if needed I can power my house.  Depending on what you can keep the temperature of the battery at when you put it into a hole you might consider a LiFePO4 battery.  They also have self heating batteries that will make sure the battery will stay warm enough to allow charging.

  Not sure if you are limited by size of funds but if I were to do this I would use a 50 or 100Ah battery with a Victron 10 or 15 Amp controller and a 100 watt solar panel.  Or possible a pair of 50s in parallel to try to avoid shadows from killing power output.  One of the main issues with a LiFePO4 battery is it's low temperature charging.  Usually 32ºF is the low limit, which is why I suggested a self heating.  It will deliver power until the temp gets to -4ºF but won't charge until 32ºF.  Or you could stick with the AGM battery, but make it much larger so it can hold more power so it doesn't get to a low enough discharge that it stops producing power for the repeater.

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