External solar panel for a Tempest - product suggestions

Tempest Owners
1

My battery seems to be dipping down into Power Save mode quite often now that more overcast days are among us. I was looking at the power boost accessory and was going to get an external solar panel, but the directions are a bit unclear to me.
I see it says " * 6V, 12V, 24V solar panel (no solar regulator required )"

Can someone give me examples of off the shelf panels you can purchase and plug-and-play? I see plenty of solar panel options on Amazon but I am not sure which ones (if any) won’t also require a bunch of other adapters.

Thanks!

2

From the PBA Owner’s Manual:

  • The PBA can operate on 110-240 VAC or any 6-24 V DC/AC auxiliary power. The included 12V power adapter uses a 5.5x2.5mm barrel connector to the lower component which is approximately 5ft (1.5m) in length.

    • Other power source options include…
      • Any other 1A+, 6-24V power adapter
      • 6V, 12V, 24V solar panel (no solar regulator required )
      • 6V, 12V or 24V external battery system
      • 12V AC landscape lighting system
      • 24V AC security system
      • or whatever is available in the above range

I would go for a 12V solar panel, to be safe from over-voltage in a lightly-loaded circuit. 100W would be massive overkill, but maybe not so much in a shady deployment. Most come with a standard solar two-pin plug connector, but some come with a 5.5mm x 2.1mm barrel connector. The PBA needs a 5.5mm x 2.5mm barrel connector, which you can either find adapters for or just cut the wire off of the PBA’s included transformer and splice it to the solar panel…

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3

Does anyone have a recommendation for a 12v solar panel that will plug in to the external power pack?

4

How many watts and what physical size are you looking for?

5

I had to cut the plug off of the included wall wart transformer and use it to connect the 12V/35Ah battery to my off-grid Tempest, which is charged by a 100W solar panel and charge controller. All items purchased at Harbor Freight on the road. This setup is massive overkill, but I needed something in an emergency and wanted the setup to be 100% hands-off since the station is 750 miles from home…

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6

Not sure what is the minimum power requirement… I would think the weather station does not need more than 10W to operate it?

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7

Can you please share details on how to do this.. a write up or video would be perfect!

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8

That station is over 1,200km away from my house, so I cannot easily look at the AC wall wart power supply wire that I cut to see the polarity. Assuming that you are at home in civilization and not rushing to set up an emergency power supply on a road trip, this 5.5 x 2.5mm barrel connector should be the same type that was on the AC wall wart:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JKNRHBZ

Red is positive, black is negative.

Here’s someone else’s video for hooking up the components in a more common 100 watt solar kit. The above cable should be hooked up in place of the inverter in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ_vRUknhzw

Again, I need to mention that 100 watts is MASSIVE overkill to run a Tempest power booster accessory. I had to do this setup in an emergency while traveling near my remote station at our tree farm, and the 100 watt Harbor Freight stuff was all that I could get in a hurry when passing through civilization.

What I don’t like about the Harbor Freight solar stuff is that they use SAE connectors for many connections. SAE connectors look like they are keyed for polarity, but in reality they are not and can be plugged in with reverse-polarity if you do not confirm every connection with a tester before plugging it together. If you want to go the HF route, this is the stuff that I bought (and you still need the above 5.5 x 2.5mm power connector):

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-amp-solar-charge-regulator-96728.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/100-watt-monocrystalline-solar-panel-57325.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/lawn-garden/outdoor-living/solar/12v-35-ah-sealed-lead-acid-battery-56770.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/solar-power-connection-cable-kit-59171.html

One last thing to note is that most solar charge controllers are NOT weatherproof, so make sure to house the controller out of the rain/snow. There are a gazillion YouTube videos online for making a self-contained solar battery box out of a plastic or metal ammo can that would also work great for powering a Tempest power boost accessory, including this video where the person took the time to weatherproof the connections:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv6_YJuupQw