Posted on 09/06/2012 3:07:23 AM PDT by djf
Harbor Freight has a 3 panel 12V 45 watt solar power setup for under 200 bucks, and I was wondering about peoples experiences with solar. Any tips on batteries? Inverters? Basic setup?
Almost forgot
Xantrex C60 Charge controller $100
This is a pretty basic and small system that with upgrades is a real powerhouse for those times in need. total cost about $6000. no credits,incentives, all out of pocket and nobody but you and your family know about your preparedness, especially your Power company which by the way has RIGHTS to your SOLAR ELECTRICITY if you pursue Government Incentives to offset costs, which also doubles initial out of pocket costs.
Purchase the items I listed and you will be pretty well off to start. The guy on craigs list has an endless supply of panels but he is in Long Beach, Ca.
A sine-wave (SIW)inverter creates AC in a smooth form without sharp on/off square-wave (SQW) effects like the cheaper inverters; SQW is essentially like flipping a switch back and forth. I.e. a square wave has sharp changes in phasing from positive to negative whereas a sine wave has smooth changes in phasing. Many electric motors and sensitive electronics will fail on SW power source as its hard on them.
If you plan on running any kind of electronics, you better get a “Pure Sine” inverter. Inverter is The MOST IMPORTANT part of your System, this one is a Grid Tie or Stand Alone, Have Generator back up also, 105 amp built in charger fully charges batteries in 2 hours with 6000 watt generator, also with control module add-on and generator auto start option, it will start generator for those times needed. Also I needed 220 to run my Well Pump. I did a lot of research and searching to put together a system for about half the price of a 1000 watt system, and this system will run 2 computers FOREVER, All the Water I want as well as TV,lights,basic cheap fridge(nothing fancy) FOREVER, limited use coffee maker, microwave, ,... Am going to add 8 more Batteries and 4 more Panels next week, then I won’t need generator very often. Microwaves and coffee makers use the most power,as does the Well Pump, but the rest is NEGLIGIBLE.
Don’t forget your lighting! Even though the new mini-florescents are often derided, a few years back, one of the local drug stores had a sale and I picked up a boatload of the 60 watters for about a quarter apiece.
Light-wise, a regular 75 or 100 watt incandescent seems more natural to my eyes, but if we go into prepper-survival mode, I’ll be using the minis!
I’ve been really happy with the Goal Zero products (www.goalzero.com). They have a wide range of solar power products, from charging up a cell phone to running a field hospital. Really.
They’re also doing ‘road shows’ at Costco’s across the US this month. They bundle ‘extra’ stuff’ into their packaging when you buy it from there. The products are durable, and the panels can last 20 years (per their web site).
I bought the low-end version (Nomad) a couple of months ago. It’s great for a bug-out bag. I’m getting ready to pick up either their Escape series, or maybe even their Extreme series - all depends on what kind of deal I can get from the Costco road show tomorrow.
Rapid setup-teardown and portability are very important options. As one sees needed, of course!
>> I went to a golf cart service/dealer, he had a few batteries that the terminal posts had melted off &etc
Thanks for the good idea!
Why do you use golf cart batteries?
If you look at post 7, you will see that a commercial system generates, over a one year period, an average of about 6% of its rated power. This is because the sun only shines during the day, and is often blocked by clouds. The battery charging, discharging, and inverters also loose efficiency. In your case, that would be 6% of 45 watts, or about 3 watts. That means that you could run a 3 watt night light continuously all day, or a 60 watt light bulb for an hour each day. It would be less than that if you had a run of rainy days. You might get a half an hour a day in a medium sized highly efficient LED TV, or a computer, but not both.
Trojan T605 (6v 210ah) deep cycle, $20 ea + core. 2011 manufacture.
That’s why.
A big part of me asking the question is to figure out the sizing. I have an 1800 watt generator and know what it can/can’t run, so I’m trying to get ideas.
Thanks.
Haven’t had any issues running computers on “modified sine wave” inverters. The capacitors in the computer’s internal power supply smooth the sharp corners of the waves as they convert the AC to DC.
Motors, though, need the clean sine wave.
What size is your well pump? What kind of surge do you see starting?
Well Pump pulls 85 amps DC, as currently configured battery bank is 400 amp hours, going to double that next week then add panels if necessary. currently it is always fully charged.I think it is 3hp, 220 volt but is 385 feet deep. no problems with surge at all, 10,000 gallon tank for storage and well only runs at most 1 hour per day. Have set to 300 gallon cycles, which takes about 30 minutes. which is about 10% of battery storage.
Sounds crazy, right? Trust me, I'm an electrical engineer :-)
Unless you have a tracker setup, the panels will not be at an optimum angle to the sun most of the time. So, they will put out less than max voltage. Plus, there is voltage drop when current is pulled from the panels. A switchmode charge controller (like my Morningstar is)can accept a higher voltage, up to about 40V, and adjust it down to charge the 12V battery faster.
My solar setup can completely power my ham radio room / lab, including lights (12V LED). I have large marine battery and an 800W inverter.
Enjoy.
How do they stand up in a hail storm? We had baseball sized hail here a few years ago, and later a 4 inch thick ice storm, then a 2 foot snow storm.
And I won’t mention the wind storms that blew down tree limbs along with trees several times.
another place for DIYers is Instructibles.com, I use it all the time, including making home-made welders and ball-mills.
so it’s gonna cost ys 200 bucks. how much is is=t gonna SAVE you? how long is the payback period? how long will the unit last before it needs maintenance or breaks down? most solar panels die long before they finish paying for themselves.
I’ve considered those panels and system as well. It is designed to provide backup lighting and probably battery recharging capability - not big enough to seriously go off grid, but is good for a short term energy bridge. Plus there are the expenses for the battery bank necessary. There are some websites that have been mentioned and I’d recommend reading them first because the big answer is just what do you want to power and for how long. Here’s a couple of other sites to consider -
http://www.survivalunlimited.com/batteries/batteryblunders.htm
I bought a Harbor Freight solar panel for emergencies before conducting much research. I would not do that again.
The Harbor Freight panels are not as cost effective as they should be. They are thin-film amorphous silicon panels that will not last nearly as long as crystalline wafer silicon panels. Compare prices on eBay, for example: item #
251142937557.
The Harbor Freight charge controller is minimalist design and not as efficient in charging a battery as a MPPT charge controller. Again, study eBay: item #160871594102 and read the description.
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