What wattage of solar panel to recharge a 3.3 Ah gel-cell battery?

[JakeD]

Can anyone kindly advise what would be the ideal output of a solar
panel for the purpose of recharging a 3.3 Ah gel-cell battery? I want
the battery to be recharged as quickly as possible, without damaging
the battery.

Size limitations of the solar panel: The solar panel can have a
maximum area of about 350 sq inches (say 15" X 24" approx).

Thank you.

JD

 

[Tom Biasi]

Can anyone kindly advise what would be the ideal output of a solar
panel for the purpose of recharging a 3.3 Ah gel-cell battery? I want
the battery to be recharged as quickly as possible, without damaging
the battery.

Size limitations of the solar panel: The solar panel can have a
maximum area of about 350 sq inches (say 15" X 24" approx).

Thank you.

JD

What is the voltage of the gell-cell?


Tom

 

[John Fields]

Can anyone kindly advise what would be the ideal output of a solar
panel for the purpose of recharging a 3.3 Ah gel-cell battery? I want
the battery to be recharged as quickly as possible, without damaging
the battery.

Size limitations of the solar panel: The solar panel can have a
maximum area of about 350 sq inches (say 15" X 24" approx).

 

[JakeD]

What is the voltage of the gell-cell?

Sorry - I forgot to mention: 12v.

JD

 

[JakeD]

Do you have a part number for the battery?

It's a Chinese one, with has "AINO MICRO" printed on it and a paper
sticker with "Made in China MM24 printed on it along with a abr code,
under which is printed: "026686 624243"

"0706201" has been die-punched into the top surface (small digits).

Size is 5" x 2.5" x 2.5"

JD

 

[Tom Biasi]

Sorry - I forgot to mention: 12v.

JD

The maximum charging current is equal to CA, where C is the batteries rated
capacity and A is the initial current rating from the battery manufacturer.
Without knowing the manufacturers specs I could guess you should stay under
1 Amp.
Depending on the efficiency of the solar cell array you might get away with
a 15 watt in good light.
Sorry, with only this much info I can't give a better answer.

Tom

 

[JakeD]

The maximum charging current is equal to CA, where C is the batteries rated
capacity and A is the initial current rating from the battery manufacturer.
Without knowing the manufacturers specs I could guess you should stay under
1 Amp.
Depending on the efficiency of the solar cell array you might get away with
a 15 watt in good light.
Sorry, with only this much info I can't give a better answer.

Thank you for the guidance. I have a clue now! I think the solar
panels that are within my size constraints and price range are around
12v, 5W which I think equates to around 0.5A. Is it?
If so, I can probably even use two of those together and get a quicker
recharge without too much risk to the battery, yes? If so, how should
I connect the two 5W solar panels and the battery? All in parallel?
Are any other components needed?

Thanks again,

JD

 

[Tom Biasi]

Thank you for the guidance. I have a clue now! I think the solar
panels that are within my size constraints and price range are around
12v, 5W which I think equates to around 0.5A. Is it?
If so, I can probably even use two of those together and get a quicker
recharge without too much risk to the battery, yes? If so, how should
I connect the two 5W solar panels and the battery? All in parallel?
Are any other components needed?

Thanks again,

JD

Actually your 5 W panel will be a better charger if it puts out 13.7 volts
or so.
Will take all day but better for the battery.
Everything in parallel will be the way you would use two but you may need
isolation diodes on the panels.
If you had a vehicle around your job would be very easy.

Tom

 

[JakeD]

Actually your 5 W panel will be a better charger if it puts out 13.7 volts
or so.
Will take all day but better for the battery.
Everything in parallel will be the way you would use two but you may need
isolation diodes on the panels.
If you had a vehicle around your job would be very easy.

Thanks, Tom. Yes, a vehicle would make things much easier; I could
just plug the panel into the cigar lighter socket. I think it even
comes with a cig lighter plug attached. Unfortunately, I need this
setup for remote places where no vehicle will be available.

Thanks again for your generous help.

JD