solar power conversation

[kbstenberg]

I am interested in exchanging PM's with someone that has knowledge of putting very small solar units together. If you are interested in helping a novist please PM me!!

[lancem]

PM sent

[rancher1913]

best resource for a beginner is "DIY solar power forum" its ran by a young kid that does lots of how to videos and there is lots of knowable members and a few ass hats. i started with an off the shelf "plug and play" system to try and minimize the learning curve but after having problems with the system, wish i had gone modular so things can be replaced easily

[ascast]

If you guys would like to post here, I would not object. I'm sure there are others who would be interested.

[Soundguy]

Check out harbor freight.. they have a kit with 4 panels.. the brackets and cables.. a charge controller too. Just add a marine or deep cycle battery and an inverter and you have a working small scale kit. add more kits ..more batteries.. and or bigger inverter to gain capacity or run time. More panels and charge controllers give you faster recovery.. more batteries gives you longer run time or higher load capacity.. bigger inverter lets you run larger loads.. beware.. motor loads generally need 3x the starting power as their run power. For instance.. a 5000w inverter technically can make 41.6a at full load.. but a jet well pump that runs on a 20a circuit will probably not start unless it is sub 1 hp... for half a cycle it's likely drawing 60a.. I setup a storage container with 8 panels.. 2 charge controllers and 6 - 1000mca batteries and a 5kw inverter. The kits also come with 2-3 12v dc lights too. good setup for a small cabin or a storage container or boat not on shore power.

https://www.harborfreight.com/home/electrical/solar/100-watt-amorphous-solar-panel-kit-63585.html

I have 2 of these kits.. a friend has another.. we have been running them 2.5 years now. I have a storage container completely powered by 2 kits..

[TheBoat]

When I was a kid my Grandfater made a large SOLAR Water heater to warm up the swimming pool, the Angle of the Sun is so low in New England that most SOLAR Rays Reflect off and it just does not work. If you have Cloudy days Faggitbout it, and when covered with snow, well thats when you use the WoodStove for Heat.

[msinc]

I built a hunting cabin in the mountains back in 2011. It is off grid and I use a single 2'X4' solar panel and a Morningstar charge controller to charge a 12 car battery. This provides indoor lighting. I have LED bulbs and it works great. Morningstar is a fantastic outfit to deal with that will answer all your questions. This little set up has never failed me, every time I go up there the lights always work. I have had to change the battery once. Now, if you want to run more stuff that requires more wattage, then it gets expensive. You need a bank of batteries, more panels and an inverter.

[1066]

I built a couple of self powered solar trackers for small panels. At Lat50N a single panel tracker gave an increase of about 20% efficiency over a fixed panel. A dual axis tracker only gave a further 5-7% so not worth the extra complication. At different latitudes this will change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPvBAQ0WP4M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GejMWgrlSzU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw4uEsEjbxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqF_GgdUcmg