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| Solar Panels; Home backup power | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 14 2015, 07:30 AM (1,559 Views) | |
| bkelly | May 14 2015, 07:30 AM Post #1 |
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Gear Head
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Anyone here have experience with solar panels. I don't plan to power my house but I would like to have a bank of batteries to keep charged for a power down event like storms. Just something to provide light, a fan, and a radio. I want to install this in my storm cellar. |
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| evmetro | May 14 2015, 09:11 AM Post #2 |
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There are plenty of solar panels on ebay, just pick out what fits your budget. I would go for panels of at least 100 watts, and even just one panel can get you going. You will need a charge controller, and those are all over ebay as well. The charge controller mostly just cuts power from your panel/s when your battery is full, so you don't overcharge your battery. Pick out a battery or batteries from costco, or a local battery seller. When you shop for batteries, look for deep cycles with the highest number of amp hours and don't worry about cold cranking amps. The batteries, panels, and charge controller are very simple to hook up, since the all just have positive and negative connections. If you know how to connect cables to jump start a car, you can hook up solar. Make sure to do your best to mount your battery in a place where the temp will stay the closest to 77 degrees f. Once your system is up and running, you can add panels or batteries as needed, or as your budget allows. |
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| Rondawg | May 14 2015, 09:19 AM Post #3 |
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I've been wanting to do a setup similar to what you have described for a while. Something like what you described could prolly be done quite easily. One of those heavy duty portable "Jumper Boxes' with a built in radio, and a 110 volt inverter and a portable solar charger might be all ya need/want for what ya have described? I would like something that could power my well pump in short bursts and maybe a small fridge. I'm thinking something like that would need a couple deep cycle batteries, a few panels and a heavy duty 220 inverter. Edited by Rondawg, May 14 2015, 09:22 AM.
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| evmetro | May 14 2015, 09:23 AM Post #4 |
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Yea, those harbor freight all in one jump boxes have the battery and inverter, you would just need the panel and charge controller. That is a pretty small system, but it would work... |
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| Rondawg | May 14 2015, 09:36 AM Post #5 |
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http://m.wikihow.com/Set-Up-a-Small-Solar-%28Photovoltaic%29-Power-Generator |
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| bkelly | May 14 2015, 09:37 AM Post #6 |
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Gear Head
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I have two 3 watt panels from fence chargers that I scrapped. I have two deep cycle caterpillar batteries at 190 amp hours each. If I could get the panels to just maintain the charge until I can get a larger panel that would be great. I also have a 800 watt power inverter that could be limited use. |
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| bkelly | May 14 2015, 09:46 AM Post #7 |
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Gear Head
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I also plan to use led lighting to increase efficiency. I'm starting with the storm cellar because it is small and should be easier and its a learning process for later projects. We get a lot of storms and we have used the cellar more than I would like but I'm glad we have it. I also keep food and supplies in it. If something does happen we have something to keep us going for a short time. |
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| ZXTjato | May 14 2015, 09:47 AM Post #8 |
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bass heads
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I've wanted to do this also, in my room at night I turn on the switch that cost $$ to run lights, but these LED lights could probably run forever on a big deep cycle battery. I know with a large deep cycle I've left the lights on in the metro all night and still started, those are not led. I suppose the start up would be a little but the indipendance would be great for lighting. I would still run computers and TVs on wall power but 12v box fans and led stuff would be great to run for free. Same with collecting rain water for plants later- also be nice if toilet tanks could fill with collected water from shower or washing hands from the sink or something. I'm sure there are a million ways to become slightly more indipendant and stuff, not just from storm survival and occasionall power loss. We have solar hot water and no joke all the hot water you can dream of its unlimited, dishes shower laundry any thing on solar water heat never runs out I swear. Edited by ZXTjato, May 14 2015, 09:53 AM.
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| Rondawg | May 14 2015, 10:27 AM Post #9 |
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There is a company I heard of on the radio that makes solar generators http://www.endlesspowernow.com/ I checked it out and it's AMAZING how much a system costs! It seems a comparable system could be pieced together for a fraction of the cost. For me I don't think 1 deep cycle battery would be enough to run my well pump, I would prolly have to go with 2 of em? If so, would it be best to hook em up in series or parallel for a 12 to 220 inverter or a 24v to 220 inverter?? I've got no idea how much my pump even draws at start up or when running. |
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| Stubby79 | May 14 2015, 11:53 AM Post #10 |
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You want real deep cycle, high-amp hour batteries, if you're planning on running anything that takes a decent amount of power. Golf cart batteries would be best. 6V, ~200ah. Two in series for 12v, or more if you get an inverter that runs on higher voltage. If it's "just in the meantime" until you find a good deal on big enough solar panels, why not just use an intelligent 12v battery charger? It'll turn itself over to a float voltage when it's done charging, so they'll always be topped up. There are two reasons that come to mind to use solar panels: the electricity doesn't cost anything, and you can still charge when there's no power. The initial start up cost of solar panels is prohibitive and will take forever to pay for itself (and never will if you are only using it for emergency backup). Ok, there's a third, if you've got a hard on for truly clean electricity. I'd be more interested in wind or micro-hydro though. If you just want backup power, I'd just get the batteries and inverter, possibly a couple of cheap solar panels (10 or 20w worth) if I wanted to keep them topped up without using a smart charger all the time. If there was an extended period without power and I needed to charge the batteries, I'd just run jump cables to my car and charge the battery every day or two as necessary. The cost of gas, though significantly higher than the cost of electricity, will still cost less than a decent sized solar array. Unless you're going weeks and weeks without power. |
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| bkelly | May 14 2015, 01:07 PM Post #11 |
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Gear Head
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My issue is I don't have a power source to the cellar. Instead of trenching a line and wiring it, up solar sounded good. I have the batteries the inverter and 2 small panels. I just need enough to keep a charge on the batteries. |
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| Stubby79 | May 14 2015, 08:37 PM Post #12 |
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Just make sure there's a diode between the panels and the batteries and have fun. |
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| evmetro | May 14 2015, 09:08 PM Post #13 |
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The panels will do a fine job charging your batteries, but your batteries won't last without that charge controller. Those charge controllers are pretty inexpensive, and they will protect your batteries. You can run a car with no voltage regulator, but your starter battery won't like it much... |
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| bkelly | May 15 2015, 10:18 AM Post #14 |
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Gear Head
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Thanks! I will be sure to get a controller. I was looking at the harbor freight set and it seems to have decent reviews for the price. I found several controllers that's in the $20 range as well. I want to try and get more of the batteries. I use to have a source for them a few years ago. |
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| evmetro | May 15 2015, 12:51 PM Post #15 |
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That's one of the sweet things about DIY solar. You can always add more batteries or more panels as your budget allows. I built an off grid system awhile back, and was on a very tight budget. My power was out in my home, and I needed thousands of dollars to switch it back on, so I rigged up a battery from a jump and carry jumpstart box, a single small solar panel, and a tiny inverter. This was enough to get a lamp plugged in for some light, and to power a car stereo deck for my music that I can't live without. Next payday, I was able to get another battery, and the payday after that, I got a bigger panel. After about a year of adding panels and batteries as my budget allowed, I had my whole house running on solar. I eventually got my power turned back on, but rarely ever used it. All I really used it for was the central air, or if I had more than two loads of laundry. I have moved since then, but I still have all my panels in storage. my batteries all went into other things, but maybe one of these days I will get it set up again. I kinda lost interest in the solar thing when I moved onto building electric cars. |
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