I was wondering if you could run a train on solar power?
What if you had a 40’ container and the top was a solar panel could you run an engine just from the panel and no battery?
I thought of this question, when I past a flashing stop sign and it did not look that big to have batteries and there were small solar panels .
I doubt that you could get a train to draw as little as an LED… your flashing light wouldn’t work with incandescents, heat breaks the balance.
Does the light shut off at dusk? If not, I’ll bet on batteries unseen.
The motors that I use to power my Rigi duo are 6 volt and came with solar cells for power, though I run them regulated from track power. These are high torque, low speed motors.
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G15642
At 12 volts, and half an amp, you would need a 6 watt solar cell. At 12 volts and one amp, you would need 12 watts. Considering what a 40 watt panel looks like (size wise) I think you would need a few cars worth of panels. Then it would be a sunshine only train.
I use these to keep my boat batteries charged. They produce 3W. If you left them charging a small battery all the time, you would probably get enough power to run a train for an hour or so.
Pete Thornton said:
I use these to keep my boat batteries charged. They produce 3W. If you left them charging a small battery all the time, you would probably get enough power to run a train for an hour or so.
From the OP, in part;
solar panel could you run an engine just from the panel and no battery?
I have thought of setting up a solar battery charger, and then running my trains from that battery. But, the expense of assembling such an installation, and the upkeep needed for it, I will stick with my 100 foot extension cord.
The picture is gone, but you might read this when Izzard was offering a solar car:
http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/14629/solar-powered-battery-car?page=1
Greg
You could use solar and battery at the same time to increase the battery run time during the day.
The issue, as Rick found out, is that you need a lot of solar to make enough energy to make a difference. I think he had a 5 car train, with something similar to what Pete posted, arched like a tunnel on a flat car or in a gondola.
By the time you dedicate those cars, you could have added a single battery car to give all day running.
But it would be fun to have a solar only train just for the novelty.
Greg
Yes you can, I built this one back in 2010.
Rick, so does it fulfill the OP’s question/requirement?
I was wondering if you could run a train on solar power?
What if you had a 40’ container and the top was a solar panel could you run an engine just from the panel and no battery?
Since I see something labeled “charge controller”, I suspect that there are batteries, and so it doesn’t fulfill the OPs question “…could you run an engine just from the panel and no battery?”
I think the last time we worked this out, my estimate was about 5 cars with panels on a bright day.
Greg
David, Yes there are 2 - 14.4V battery-packs underneath the solar panel. This panel is 19.6V peak voltage and 300 milliamps max current, and the only way to increase the current output is to increase the number of solar cars in parallel. I don’t know of any way to operate a locomotive directly from a solar panel, because all the panels ( like the ones I had installed above my koi shed ) have go directly into a converter then that power gets transferred into battery storage. But, I’ve been out of the game for the past 14 months (health issues) so I may not be up-to-date on all the new technology out there.
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So, the way Rick arched the panel was quite clever, gives it exposure in varying positions.
But clearly, it reduces the maximum power, a good approximation would be under half, and probably even 1/3 capacity even in optimal conditions.
So now you have 100 ma at 19.6 best case so under 2 watts. So maybe in perfect conditions you could run an LGB loco with no cars on that, but now you have to pull 3 cars for 1/2 motor unloaded… basically you will probably agree that loading the loco down, and sunlight not always being the best, 5 cars would be a good estimate, 500 ma tops at 19.6 and need to factor in the conversion loss (using a DC to DC converter, which are easy to procure.
So a train that runs only in full and bright sunlight, go into the shadow and the train stops.
If I was determined to build one, I would double the power to compensate for issues, and now you are at 10 cars…
Anyway, it’s fun to think about, but as I said before, just one car with a battery would be enough.
Greg
If he had used a high side gon, he could have cupped the array (down inside) and taken advantage of reflected light, instead he created shadows … not so clever after all…
not quite understanding your point, cupping it down would make it so only with the sun directly overhead would be exposed. as soon as you get any angle, one side is completely in shade, and the other side going into it.
Greg
Concave from edge of opening. His way you loose the horizon too, but any light entering into the concave part has a chance of reflecting onto another part… where as his bounce is always away…
Not that steep to create darkness…
The panels are highly designed to absorb light, any amount reflected from a panel is negligible.
And at low sun angles you get nothing at least 2/3’s in shadow, the rest at bad angle, while Rick’s layout gets probably 1/3 exposure.
Still don’t see it.
Greg
Too bad, but not real important… I’m thinking along the line of telescope reflecting mirrors that gather light. Never seen one convex.
If the angles are similar; convex and concave, then so should the shade. Any secondary light is limited, but possible.
Carry on, John out.