Posted on 03/21/2014 6:38:18 AM PDT by Shaun_MD
hey fellow freepers, I need some advice.
I'm trying to set up a small solar panel system in case the grid goes down. I know I won't be able to power the whole house, but I want to be able to run a 750 watt deep well pump, a couple of 40 watt lights, a ceiling fan or box fan, cb base station and maybe a small freezer/refrigerator. I've got a 12v 100 watt solar panel, a 2000w 12v pure sine wave inverter and a 200 amp hour agm battery. Plus a 30 amp charge controller.
Will this be enough? I'm mainly concerned with making my battery last as long as possible and not kill it with undercharging/overcharging since these suckers are expensive.
I'd like to hear your thoughts and suggestions! Thanks
Hook up your inverter to your car and run it at idle when you need the extra power.
Again, Steve has a segment on this as well.
There are some pretty nice flywheel setups available to store kinetic energy as an alternative to batteries, but it’s going to be more expensive.
It’s a light... it’s a battery charger... it’s a WEAPON! (spike that goes in the ground - get aluminum)
The ultimate “prep” - solar powered yard lights...
Yeah. but the interesting thing is that those things can actually be used to light up outdoor areas without even thinking about power. Costco had them on sale a while ago. $9.99 for box of 8. I thought they would be junk. So far they are really, really good. It surprised me, honestly.
But that is really a side issue.
A propane refrigerator as used in an RV would reduce. The electrical load requirements.
Iirc, there’s pumped hydro storage. Same principle but with water.
I was discussing that with a friend. We determined that there would be a catastrophic destructive release of energy when the bearings failed.
Bump.
I always assumed I’d be running my stuff off the batteries, and not the panels. I’d use the panels to charge the batteries. Is that the wrong way to look at it? I apologize in advance for the dumb questions but I’m new to solar power lol
The start on the pump will trip your inverter.
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/Information-SolarFolder/Invt-sizingforwellpump.html
You won’t be able to charge your batteries off of 100W, especially while you’re using power at the same time.
Best thing is to consider the bats to be a backup, temporary source, keep them charged for such an occasion, and figure out how to live with minimal electricity.
Again, Steve’s the guy:
http://www.battery1234.com
Most of us have the same problem...
I'd put what you have together, make sure it works. It's not as easy as you might think.
Then I'd add more solar panels and batteries as the money becomes available. You need at least one more battery and two more panels before you need to expand the other parts of your system, so right now at least part of the initial cost is covered.
Thanks!
Bfl
Those little solar flowers that flap their leaves and bob back and forth are the best solar devices known in keeping investors as close to payback as they will ever get. You can get them at The Dollar Store.
I think you are asking about load. You can load your battery as much as you want, e.g. pull 100 amps for an hour. You understand that shortens the battery life so you are hoping to pull less from the battery. I agree with the people who said to get a generator, specifically for the well pump. I also agree with the people who said to get a cistern (or equivalent storage) and pump the water from that with a small 12V pump when the power fails. YOu can get the 12v pump from an RV supply outlet.
If you just want to get through a day or two of power failure, go with the generator. If you want to turn to solar and batteries for day-to-day use for small loads (e.g. computer, internet, small TV, even a small fridge or DC freezer), then do it and you will have part of what you need to get through the power failures.
The cost on a power windmill gives about a 50% ROI over the life of the windmill.
You also have to figure in the food savings with wind power; you can eat some of the birds it kills.
Great replies. Sound advice in setting up a wind collection unit as well. There are some great ideas to do this on you tube. Put a little more money into additional batteries and series them together. Also, excellent advice about having a motorized backup as well. One of the keys is banking enough energy to use when the SHTF
I’m no electrician but I have been researching solar systems for our mountain retreat for a couple of years. Based on what you say you have for solar power and what you need to run with it you are really underpowered.
I have learned that solar systems are not very efficient. They have to be oversized.
Well pumps take a lot of juice. You can moderate that need with one of those blue gravity vessels. Maybe you already have one. Anyway to run lights, fans, well pump, TV, fridge etc you are probably going to need at least a 1.59KW system. I would guess 6-8 265 watt panels and 6-8 deep cycle batteries. Probably $12,000 after its all said and done.
We are putting all appliances on propane except for a small efficient chest freezer. So our solar system will only be running lights, freezer, fans, well pump, washing machine etc. and we are still going to have a propane generator on hand in case we get 4-5 gray days in a row which we tend to do in GA in the winter. I’m going to order one of those plug and plays from Wholesale Solar. We figure we need about a 2.39KW system. Thats 9 265 watt panels and 10-12 batteries.
We are planning on the grid going down at some point and staying down for a year or two. We aren’t pioneer so we do not want to be without a reliable electric source. If you can afford it oversize the system and then you won’t have to worry when things go South.
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