Robop - Solar Power installation using Solara panels

Solar Charging

Many people ask the question, “Can Robop be run from a solar panel”. In response to this we have run our own solar panel test programme over a 12 month period, here in Scotland. Three different panel technologies were tried to see which would cope best throughout the seasons and as solar angle changed throughout the day. As a result of these tests we recommend the use of a 20 watt Solara semi flexible panel designed for marine use. This is light, easy to handle and has a constant output at a wide range of solar angles. However, it must be stuck down on to the roof. The photos opposite show our first solar power installation in the north of Scotland. This has worked brilliantly even through the long dark winter nights.

Solar panels do produce a lot of power on bright clear sunny days. The output of a panel is always quoted at the standard solar energy figure of 1,000 watts per sq. metre. In our experience on a sunny summer day all panels produce at least as much power as quoted when the panel is at right angles to the sun. However, the output falls dramatically due to shadows, cloud, the time of year as well as the solar angle. For this reason we specify a considerably larger panel than would be required simply from the rated output. To maximise the power delivered to Robop we have designed our own solar regulator which takes the panel voltage (17V to 20V) and converts it to the 7.2 volts required for charging.

Solar charging is a practical solution for a wide range of applications for Robop where mains electricity is not available or is too expensive to install.