i have a solar panel that i got a while back, its a solarex 17.5v 5.1w. the panel works it puts out its power ive tested that. the question i have is when i got it it came with this controller i think? it has the battery volt and sun power indicators on it, im guessing its to not blow up a battery. what i want to do is build a aluminum box that the panel and this controller fits in so i can open it and hook it to a battery to charge it and mabey run some small devices off of, mabey hook a 12 volt socket to plug other stuff into aswell

my problem is i dont know how to hook it up it has 4 wires on it, im guessing two go to the battery and the other two go to the panel

Id look online from the info on the front, or contact them with an email. I wouldnt take guesses since its easy to find info.

i should have added, i tried finding the people who made it but the phone number on the back is disconected and i cant find anything about the company im guessing they went out of business.

Is there no pin out or anything on the back? The good news is it looks simple enough to open it up and just follow the traces on the board and see where they run. Guessing I would say one is inline voltage from panel output, meaning this is hooked up directly from the panel and it runs the "sun power meter", the other will run off to the battery for the charge level, one ground and the fourth will most likely be a output for something, I would doubt charging. This is just a guess as I know very little about solar.

i had it apart it dosent look to complex but electronics is not my strong point, i can crack it open again and take more pictures, but no theres no pinout on it the wires are soldered to the bored

It looks to be an RV unit, check out your local dealer/ service center to pick a tech's brain, or maybe try your local park.

huh well i do have an amish run solar instalation shop just down the street i could go talk to them,,, honestly didnt think of it... i feel dumb lol

Thats ironic since most Amish arent even allowed to have a phone or electric. Around here, theyre given a pass for like Saturday where they can drive a car into town to shop or use lights.

Around here thqy can for business and shop just not I there homes

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Thats ironic since most Amish arent even allowed to have a phone or electric. Around here, theyre given a pass for like Saturday where they can drive a car into town to shop or use lights.

Around here in Lancaster county it isn't uncommon to see Amish on their iphone.

quote Originally posted by zetabird: Around here thqy can for business and shop just not I there homes

Yeah, I thought it was odd that farm homes without power line connections all had large propane tanks outside.

Thats how it is here thwy all have propane lamps and fires. But we have amish on cellphones riding bikes and the latea craze is metric ****ton of led lights on buggys flashing blue and red they look like a cop 2 blocks away when there relly a quarter mile down the road

The buggies used to just have an orange/yellow warning triangle on them. Ohio made them put lights on them after dark after a family got hit by a car and killed.

some of there lights now are so bright you get blinded and almost hit them