i bought two of these 5W panels from cabelas when they were on sale: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Sunfo...ger/747062.uts
i have the panels on the shelf behind the rear seats of my sedan. the panels easily produce enough to top off the 12v battery in full sun, and even on cloudy days. the panels have a blocking diode built in. however, i park my car in a commercial garage and the light is only sufficient to produce between 6.5-9.5 volts each, obviously insufficient to keep the 12v battery charged. so i am trying to think of a simple way to power a mobius dashcam off of these panels and a battery bank without being wired into the car's electrical system when the car is off <i dont believe i will have a problem plugging in when the car is on, if necessary, although the panels say not to have them plugged in when the car is running for some reason>.
im not sure of the answer to this question: if i am only producing 6.5-9.5 volts with each panel, and i hook the male 12v plugs on the panels to a 12v splitter/adapter like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/201134913558 or like this:http://www.amazon.com/cigarette-ligh..._cd_ql_qh_dp_t and then take a 5v usb battery bank like this <or larger/better>:http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-6000m...dp/B007HUTXV8/and have this battery bank hooked to either the 12v 3 way splitter via a usb adapter in the splitter's 3rd female socket, or the splitter/adapter from amazon which already has a usb hookup... is this going to be sufficient voltage to charge the battery bank? i do not want to plug the splitter/adapter into the car's electrical system at all, because im thinking <not sure> that the solar panels churning out between 6.5-9.5 volts is enough to power the 5v usb ports to power the battery bank, which i would in turn use to power my 5v usb dashcam... i guess the simple version of the question is, do i need a full 12v of input to get the usb adapter to push out a measely 5v via the usb port? and also, is the 12v splitter/adapter still going to function if it's male connector is not in use?
i believe i may have a concern when it comes to the amount of current produced by the panels and i am not sure how to measure it. specs on the panel say its capable of 5W at 15v x 350mA. like i said, i can only get 6.5-9.5v in the garage, and i am unsure how to measure the current <though i do have a craftsman meter supposedly capable of reading DCA at 10A and 200m>
i really just want to keep the whole 'system' off my car's electrical system when the car is not on since the car is kind of finnicky, it gets cold here, and i cannot get the panels producing over the 12V hump without connecting them in series <which is not an option for me>.
TIA
i have the panels on the shelf behind the rear seats of my sedan. the panels easily produce enough to top off the 12v battery in full sun, and even on cloudy days. the panels have a blocking diode built in. however, i park my car in a commercial garage and the light is only sufficient to produce between 6.5-9.5 volts each, obviously insufficient to keep the 12v battery charged. so i am trying to think of a simple way to power a mobius dashcam off of these panels and a battery bank without being wired into the car's electrical system when the car is off <i dont believe i will have a problem plugging in when the car is on, if necessary, although the panels say not to have them plugged in when the car is running for some reason>.
im not sure of the answer to this question: if i am only producing 6.5-9.5 volts with each panel, and i hook the male 12v plugs on the panels to a 12v splitter/adapter like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/201134913558 or like this:http://www.amazon.com/cigarette-ligh..._cd_ql_qh_dp_t and then take a 5v usb battery bank like this <or larger/better>:http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-6000m...dp/B007HUTXV8/and have this battery bank hooked to either the 12v 3 way splitter via a usb adapter in the splitter's 3rd female socket, or the splitter/adapter from amazon which already has a usb hookup... is this going to be sufficient voltage to charge the battery bank? i do not want to plug the splitter/adapter into the car's electrical system at all, because im thinking <not sure> that the solar panels churning out between 6.5-9.5 volts is enough to power the 5v usb ports to power the battery bank, which i would in turn use to power my 5v usb dashcam... i guess the simple version of the question is, do i need a full 12v of input to get the usb adapter to push out a measely 5v via the usb port? and also, is the 12v splitter/adapter still going to function if it's male connector is not in use?
i believe i may have a concern when it comes to the amount of current produced by the panels and i am not sure how to measure it. specs on the panel say its capable of 5W at 15v x 350mA. like i said, i can only get 6.5-9.5v in the garage, and i am unsure how to measure the current <though i do have a craftsman meter supposedly capable of reading DCA at 10A and 200m>
i really just want to keep the whole 'system' off my car's electrical system when the car is not on since the car is kind of finnicky, it gets cold here, and i cannot get the panels producing over the 12V hump without connecting them in series <which is not an option for me>.
TIA
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