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Now we have a container and a battery, since this is a solar generator we will need to discuss how to charge the battery to store the energy when we need it. After paying for itself with free energy, it will be one of the wisest investments we can make. Thus, the next in line of this series is what we need and how to charge the battery using the Sun. Since we have the battery already, we can find the necessary information we need to be able to purchase the perfect solar controller in which we will connect to the battery and then to the solar panel. The battery will tell us 2 important details. Such as type of battery we purchased being an agm or lifepo4 or even a lead acid battery. Most solar controllers these days are multi chemistry chargers meaning they can charge most types of batteries in the proper sequence to charge them. Second, how much current (amps) can the battery safely use to charge with. If you are using the batteryevo I used then the answer is on the battery with 20 amps. So, we don't need to buy anything bigger than a 20 amp controller that can charge a lifepo4 battery. I started with a 10 amp pw charge controller but moved up as we will discuss later. The next thought to go into it is the environment you live in. Is it usually sunny or do you have more cloudy hazy days? If you have mostly clear sunny days then your in luck and a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) controller is an (electronic) transition between the solar panels and the batteries which is very cost effective, small and readily available. It must have a good shot at the sun and the charging current can be affected by a passing cloud and isn't very efficient in shady areas which affects the output of its charging capability. Luckily, for those of us not living under pristine skies there is the MPPT, or maximum power point tracker is an electronic DC to DC converter that optimizes the match between the solar array (PV panels), and the battery bank or utility grid. This is 3 times the cost but 10%-30% more efficient in taking and converting the Sun light into usable charging energy. *** A few tips to remember as we discuss hooking this up to the battery and solar panels. Always hook the controller to the battery first. Remembering to place positive with positive and negative to negative connections. Use the proper wire gauge to wire both the solar panel and the battery to the controller. Some Examples: 10 amp PWM Controller: https://amzn.to/3vwDYL7 30 amp PWM Controller: https://amzn.to/3vyh32a 20 amp MPPT Controller: https://amzn.to/39nSSe5 40 amp MPPT Controller: https://amzn.to/3F30jTW Now that we have the controller figured out we need to be able to absorb the sunlight from the Sun so the controller can turn that absorbed sunshine to free energy. These are called Solar Panels. With the information from the controller we will be able to see what size solar panel and how many we can connect up either in Parallel or Serial. For our mini project we will not need to emphasize these for the reason we will only need one about a 50 - 100 watt solar panel. They usually come in 2 different types that we will discuss briefly here. There are solid or folding panels available. If your charging is going to be more stationary the cost effective solution is to purchase a solid panel or if you need it to be extremely portable and easy to carry the more costly foldable suitcase type panels will be your solution. The Solid Panels are usually cheaper but bulkier and heavier and will last longer too. The portable usually fold and then zip up to form a suitcase with handles and are lighter to carry. Remember, the more wattage the panel can deliver usually means the bigger they are but the faster you can charge your battery. Some Examples: 200 Watt Solid Solar Panel: https://amzn.to/373LCmT 100 Watt Solid Solar Panel: https://amzn.to/3kw36eS 50 Watt Solid Solar Panel: https://amzn.to/3MD72Gw 10 Watt Solid Solar Panel: https://amzn.to/3vwqf75 60 watt foldable Solar Panel: https://amzn.to/3kwj8Fr 60 Watt Foldable Solar Panel: https://amzn.to/3kwjk7D As you can see, when previewing the size and type and cost are different. In our original mini Solar Generator we started out with a 15 amp PWM solar controller and a 50 watt solar panel. Later we switched because of Idaho, its haziness even when Sunny and cloudy or overcast too so we went with a 20 amp MPPT and a 100 watt solar panel. The connections on most of these are what is called an MC4 Connector. Water tight and a solid connection. Though the panels can come with different types of connectors so you will need to be aware of what type of connector they come with. We will be discussing later how to put it together but for quick thought you will connect two wires from the controller to the battery first and then connect the other 2 wires with the proper connections to the solar panel. Follow instructions contained with the controller to set it up for your battery type. Put into the Sun, pointing to it and angled. If you search for your area one could find the proper angle to the Sun that is best. If you can help, we would truly appreciate and need it -- Thank you https://gofund.me/5b4a16c6 Any little bit helps and we truly are grateful. Have Fun... Next we will finish the charging decision for land Power (AC) charging if you have power and need to charge it quickly.