Monitoring+Panel

toc =Monitoring Panel=



Description
The monitoring panel shows the electrical condition and status of the solar panel and battery. The panel is mounted on the wall in the Physics Lab. Wiring, in flex conduit, from the solar panel (SP) enters through a hole in the ceiling. A piece of electrical conduit serves as a "sleeve" through which wires for the outside LED lights are run.

The panel is a 2-foot square piece of MDF. A pair of wood blocks hold the hinges for the panel. Another pair is mounted on the non-hinge side and has a pair of magnetic latches.

Digital Panel Voltmeters
We are using digital LCD voltmeters from All Electronics. They run from 9V, and they can be powered from the 12V battery with a zener diode or just a 9V battery. There is one monitoring the SP voltage and another monitoring the battery voltage.

Analog Panel Ammeters
We are using two analog ammeters to monitor the SP current and the light current. The meters were purchased from All Electronics.

Charge Controller
The battery charge controller is also a light controller. It is the Morningstar Sunlight 20 purchased from Affordable Solar.

Breaker Box and Circuit Breakers
We have the breaker box and two 20A breakers. All current paths from positive terminals will contain a breaker.

Wiring
We have sufficient length of 10ga stranded wire to connect to the SP. We also have 200ft of 12ga outdoor landscape lighting wire for use from battery to LED lights. We will bury the lighting wire in 1/2" conduit.

Monitoring and Reporting Online
It's not likely we'll have budget to install this option.

Inverter
We will add an inverter to provide AC power to run a student gadget charging station. Gather inverter candidates in the Inverter page. The inverter comes with a car cigarette lighter type plug, so we need to install a compatible socket in the MP.