Solar 12V Makers

Everyday is a new day and every morning is a gift with blessed coffee/tea.This is a daily habit for almost everyone and all over the world to have at least one cup of morning coffee/Tea.In previous article I have showed solar cooking systems both AC& DC. In this post we are going to create a 12V DC solar system which we will use for making coffee but remember to keep milk  & sugar with it otherwise you will miss the taste.

In this project we need :

• Solar Panel has built in charge controller (Easy Portable)   
• Battery (12V)
• Cigarette Lighter Adapter (if needed)
• 12V DC Appliances 

Connection should be like the diagram above; here solar panels create electricity from sun light and the electricity will  be stored  in the battery with the help of charge controller after that with the help of stored energy we can run any 12V DC appliances any where any time. In some case cigarette lighter adapter could be needed if the device is designed for car which has cigarette plug for connection. 

Connection Description :

First of all check out all solar panel connections, if you are using single solar panel I would suggest you to use folding solar panels which are beforehand connected with charge controller  & built in with standing frames which will make the project much more easier but if you want to use normal solar panels then use a charge controller for battery charging which is very important & you have to place the solar panel on a inclination position for better performance. Check the connection & check the voltage and the current of the solar panel with multi-meter before you connect with battery.

You can see in the left picture a folding solar panel which is two solar panels framed & connected as one single panel and the charge controller is also set up beforehand .This is the advantage of folding solar panel that you don't have to do extra work for your multiple solar panel connections.

Now keep your solar panels on the dry ground with optimum tilt (which depends on your location) under the sun for normal solar panels but if you are using fold-able then just put on somewhere dry where it gets regular sun light.

After the connection of solar panels, now connect the solar panels with the batteries.You can use crocodile clips for battery connection and let it charge & connect your 12V DC appliances in this case 12V DC Coffee maker with the charge controller load connection point.But remember that your 12V appliances will get all energy from the battery as the charge controller designed to protect the batteries first , so make sure you let the battery charged fully before you connect your coffee maker with the charge controller.

Example :

Let think a DC 12V Electrical Coffee Maker rated 140W and you need a Solar System for only Coffee Maker .

Solution :

As the Load Power  = 140W
           Load Voltage = 12V
           Time of use everyday (assume) = 1 Hours ;

Now Use this calculator (Solar Sizer) for choosing Solar Panel , Battery Size ;

According to the calculator;

You Need Solar Panel Equal or Over = 50Watt
             Battery (12V)                    = 19Ah


This results could vary because of the input data depending upon geographical and Temperature conditions as well as required Time & Battery Voltage. Choose your solar panel type but I recommend you to go mono-crystalline but you can choose poly-crystalline too but mono-crystalline is much more portable and small.

When you are doing any solar project make sure your seller give you warranty with the solar panels and every other solar products including charge controller & battery and make sure your charge controller has all type of protections including reverse current , over voltage , surge protections. Please remember to keep your whole system including solar panel , battery in a dry place where sun light available and keep solar panels in shade free place otherwise it will not work properly but you can keep the battery in the shade though. Make sure you connect everything property and checked the connections in each steps. There should be 6 major connections all with the charge controller.You can use cigarette plug adapter with in case of car appliances.


Please Remember this system is designed for 12V DC appliances only so there is no necessity of Inverter and please don't plug your regular coffee maker with it as those coffee make in your kitchen are not 12V DC but regular 240V AC Appliances which need Inverter as well as better solar panels. Kitchen Coffee Makers or Tea Makers are high in watt consumption over 1300 watt , so needs higher solar energy with inverter.

And you can use this system for any 12V DC appliance not necessarily coffee/tea maker but it could be any like Rice Cooker / Toaster  but 12V  and you also can use mini interver like car inverter with it for your laptop or other things.

I hope this post might help you if you are fond of travelling or camping or hiking or for caravan. Please Comment if you think I need any correction or comment for any help that you need from me :)




(JajaKallahu Khair )