Solar Panel Laptop
How can I charge a laptop and other electronics from a Solar Power charged 12 volt car battery?
I live in a village in Africa as a humanitarian aid worker. My only source of power is a 30 volt Solar Panel. I have it wired into a 3 stage controller and from there into a 12v/150ah car battery. Everything is wired correctly and working. Here is my problem. I would like to be able to take a portable DVD player or my laptop out into the field if possible. Most of my electronic plugs take 110v or higher voltage and have outputs ranging from 9-19v. I do not have an inverter and do not have access to one so that is not an option to increase my voltage. Is there a safe way (for the electronics) to charge them directly from the 12volt battery instead of the factory given plug that requires 110-240v. In your answer consider me ignorant as this is my first foray into solar power and electrical wiring. In short, don't assume I know anything about electricity in your response. Thank you.
use your lead acid battery as the main charger
1 battery gives you 12v
2 batteries gives you 24v ( connect the battery in series of course)
now how to make the voltage drop to suit your required voltage? use high wattage diodes. One diode drops the voltage by 0.7v. Two in series will give you 1.4v drop.
e.g. your lap requires 19v dc to charge, you connect 7 diodes in series and wire them to the 2 batteries with 24v output total. Final output voltage will be 24-0.7x7=19.1 roughly
You can ask your pal back home to send you 10-20 diodes (low voltage, high current 3A-6A) which only cost a few US cents each..
Your portable DVD also runs on DC, check the DC voltage and adjust the battery voltage by diodes as described above.
Of course the simplest way is to buy the inverter