What is the best way to power a laptop in an off-grid setup? Mine will be primarily solar + AGM battery.
I think the simplest “just works” set up is to get a “pure sine” inverter and go:
solar > battery > inverter > power supp > laptop
The thing is, if I understand correctly you have a big inefficient inverter to AC only to transform back to DC, with the only benefit being that the plug fits in the socket.
I’m curious to know how a generator ruins a power supply? Is it something to do with the arcane sine wave magic from the inverter?
The “best” would be some kind of DC to DC converter, but I’m not sure there’s anything plug and play atm because there’s a wide range of specs laptops want. If your laptop happens to change with USB c PD or whatever the spec is that’d be the most efficient that I’m aware of. No sense in going dc->ac->dc if it can be helped.
The “best” would be some kind of DC to DC converter
No sense in going dc->ac->dc if it can be helped.
Most laptop chargers can actually run on DC, and with as little as 48 volts. Here is a german guy demonstrating it. So if your battery bank runs on 48 volts, I think you might be able to just connect it directly to the input of a laptop charger and it will work.
There should be options avoiding AC depending on your scenario. Most laptops charge off of DC. Easiest way would be if all your things support USBC or similar.
I’m trying to figure this out at the moment.
What is the best way to power a laptop in an off-grid setup? Mine will be primarily solar + AGM battery.
I think the simplest “just works” set up is to get a “pure sine” inverter and go:
solar > battery > inverter > power supp > laptop
The thing is, if I understand correctly you have a big inefficient inverter to AC only to transform back to DC, with the only benefit being that the plug fits in the socket.
I’m curious to know how a generator ruins a power supply? Is it something to do with the arcane sine wave magic from the inverter?
The “best” would be some kind of DC to DC converter, but I’m not sure there’s anything plug and play atm because there’s a wide range of specs laptops want. If your laptop happens to change with USB c PD or whatever the spec is that’d be the most efficient that I’m aware of. No sense in going dc->ac->dc if it can be helped.
Most laptop chargers can actually run on DC, and with as little as 48 volts. Here is a german guy demonstrating it. So if your battery bank runs on 48 volts, I think you might be able to just connect it directly to the input of a laptop charger and it will work.
There should be options avoiding AC depending on your scenario. Most laptops charge off of DC. Easiest way would be if all your things support USBC or similar.