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Thread: Solar power

  1. #1
    Senior Member huntermj's Avatar
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    Default Solar power

    I thought some of you would think this cool. The power is out and i am using solar / battery power right now its a combination of a 60 watt sunforce system and a deep cycle marine battery.
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  2. #2
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Actually, that is cool. Are you running a laptop off of it via the inverter?
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Cool. Is that the one that comes with a 200 watt inverter?
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I had really vacillated between a hand crank generator and a solar set up. I've since decided on solar for a whole lot of reasons and now that I've made the decision I kinda wonder why I even considered the hand crank. Anywhooooo. I'd be really interested to hear your pros and cons on the system. I know it's output is a bit limited but if you can charge a 12v battery you can operate a radio and that can keep you abreast of amateur and citizens bands.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I too would like to hear a report. I've been looking into a small (to start) solar system. This is one that I've been looking at.
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    Senior Member Winnie's Avatar
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    Me too, Any chance of pics of the set up? I'm a visual type.
    Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Pfffft. You're just in to solar porn.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Didn't John Denver write a song about that?
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    Senior Member Winnie's Avatar
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    Just remember Ricky Boy, who made all the jam and pickles.......
    Last edited by Winnie; 08-29-2011 at 07:54 AM.
    Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Winnie View Post
    Just remember Ricky Boy, who made all the jam and pickles.......
    ...and who is currently torturing others with food porn....
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    Senior Member Winnie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    ...and who is currently torturing others with food porn....
    What can I say? You wanted samples, I sent you samples. No-one said what form they had to be in.

    BTW, had probs with PM, you've got loads)
    Recession; A period when you go without something your Grandparents never heard of.

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    The newbie! Willie's Avatar
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    Sometime I get on here for information and sometimes I get on here for entertainment......haha
    I have been thinking about solar for a while and going without power for 4 days I'm going to install something.
    Yor are only a failure when you stop getting back up!
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I just picked up the SunForce system. I wanted it to keep communications runing if the power were out for an extended period. I can run that directly off the battery. The inverter gives you some 110V options as well. I'll take some pics once it comes in.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Senior Member huntermj's Avatar
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    Rick, thats the set up i have the sunforce 60 watt kit. i put a deep cycle battery on it. I plugged the inverter in to my power strip for the pc, monintor, modem and a light. Ran it all for about 5 hours till i went to bed. I saw harbor freight was having a sale on their 45 watt kits so i bought one and just received it yesterday. It was nice to be able to keep radios and scanners charged without running the generator.
    I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I had actually been looking at the 60 watt kit. I wanted something I could use at home but was portable enough to go mobile. Mine came in Friday morning and I picked up a deep cycle marine battery. I'll probably start hooking it up tomorrow or Tuesday and I'll post some pics on it.

    I'm almost hesitate to say this but I am very close to having all my preps completed. (fingers crossed) The solar kit was one of the last items on the list. I have a couple of odds and ends to pick up but I'm just about done! On with living..................
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Lone Wolf COWBOYSURVIVAL's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    I had actually been looking at the 60 watt kit. I wanted something I could use at home but was portable enough to go mobile. Mine came in Friday morning and I picked up a deep cycle marine battery. I'll probably start hooking it up tomorrow or Tuesday and I'll post some pics on it.

    I'm almost hesitate to say this but I am very close to having all my preps completed. (fingers crossed) The solar kit was one of the last items on the list. I have a couple of odds and ends to pick up but I'm just about done! On with living..................
    Rick,

    I have been using solar and a battery for 2 yrs. for the electric fence on the horse pasture. One thing to keep in mind if the sun doesn't shine for a week and there is any draw on the battery be sure and have a charger handy. I found it easier to use the relatively new high frequency technology charger and keeping it with the battery rather than lugging the battery to the charger. Also helps because it easier to monitor the status of the battery. I top it off anytime I see it isn't fully charged. May not matter to you for your application. I also "think" a battery that is used frequently charged and discharged and charged........will last longer. I have marine batteries in my boats of course and know that because the one boat is used year round (duck season) the batteries in it outlast the fish and ski by years...Another note I have powered a desktop PC, flat screen monitor and modem in a power outtage with a battery and 750 watt invertor for 2 days without any noticeable drop in the battery. Someone smarter than me could power a desktop pc without an inverter at least it would seem you could bypass the power supply in the PC and hook direct to a battery, a desktop PC is a 12V system. Another "thought" if you plug the charger into the invertor before the battery is too drained I wonder if in fact you could charge the battery using the battery.....figure that one out Mr. Minister of Science!
    Keep in mind the problem may be extremely complicated, though the "Fix" is often simple...

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    I'll be interested to see what y'all think of the Harbor Freight 45 watt set up.

    I have been looking, plotting, and planning for a while now especially out here at "The Place" (yeah spending some time here for a week or so).

    Pert of my problem is that I get the, "if a little does a little good, a lot will do a lot of good"....so have been doing an energy audit, insulating, working on windows etc
    It's easier to conserve energy that convert it for your own use.
    So I haven't purchased any gear yet.

    That said, I could have used a back up as we did lose power from a storm for about 8 hours yesterday, not a big deal out here, as the only major consideration would be 220v to run the pump....Generators are in the shed so involves them to be hooked up, and I don't bother if its only gonna be a short time.
    We do store water for short term, as well as the shed's collection system.

    Lights would have been nice, wouldn't have had to burn any candles, but DW solved the problem by saying"Lets go to town for breakfast, while the power is out".
    Then went visiting.....
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  18. #18

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    Got mine up and running the other day have a 7w/.58amp solar pannel in the window this will help keep the batt,s toped up, 1 batt @70ah the other @ 44ah will work towards around 1200ah the batt,s are in parallel so no prob,s on mixed amp/hr batterys will add more solar panels as i go. up to around 5amp,s charging would be ok i have plumed in the tv and computer and 3 lights and elcetric fire so far so if i get a power cut i can still surf the net will get to plum other lights in and around the whole flat as time goes on, the inverter is 1000w constance and max is 2ooow short time running.
    the lights are 11w and 7w only and computer + 42 monitor comes in at under 400w so will get a few hours run time, if all goes well i will get some 680ah batt,s and put in the loft the more the better.

    ps sorry about spelling but cant be good at everything lol.

  19. #19
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I promised I'd post some pictures but the weather has been the pits the last week. Today was the first nice day I've had to put everything together. So here's the step by step.

    Here's the parts layout. Checking to make certain everything is accounted for.

    4 15 Watt Solar Panels
    Charge Controller (smaller box with wiring right of center)
    12' extension cable
    Connector to 12Volt DC Plug
    Connector to 12Vold DC Socket
    12 VDC Socket to Batter Clamps
    Connector to Regulator
    Inverter (to the right of the charge controller)
    4 in 1 connector
    PVC Mounting Frame
    Bolts and Nuts for Mounting

    Marine deep cycle battery is extra and does not come with the kit. I picked up mine at Auto Zone.

    I have sixteen bolts with washers. Those are for mounting the panels to the frame. There were two extra. I also had twelve bolts without washers. Those are for assembling the frame and there were two extras with it. All bolts assemble with wing nuts.

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    Here is the frame laid out for assembly:

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    The completed frame:

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    Another shot of the completed frame:

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    With the solar panels mounted to the frame: (I had another test going which I'll report on in another thread. You can see my heater off to the right)

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    This is a shot from behind the panels. They are connected together electrically and I'm taking a reading:

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    22.2 VDC in the early morning shade! That's not too shabby in my book.

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    Here I've wired up the controller. I'm not certain why they used pigtails but they did. You can see I used a tie wrap just below the splice to take any stress off the splice. The tie wraps don't come with the kit. You could use tape just as easy but I had the wraps.

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    The controller connected to the battery. Just follow the color code. Anyone can hook one of these up. Again, I used a tie wrap to take some stress off the split in the wire.

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    Here I've hooked a female cigarette/accessory receptacle to the battery and plugged a male into it. I'm taking a reading. I think you can see it's 13VDC.

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    Here I've installed the 200 Watt Inverter and I'm taking a reading at the AC outlet. You can see it reads 126.4 VAC.

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    This is just a pic to show you how the system lays out.

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    The system running a 60 Watt light bulb. It works!!!

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    I'm wanting to place the panels on the first floor roof but I noticed the wing nuts protrude so they would dig into the shingles, which I don't want. I can't turn the bolts around because the panels have a recess for the bolt heads and the bolts won't be long enough. So I picked up six 3 inch bolts and built some feet for the system to lay on. There are six of these on the bottom.

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    That's it!!! It's easy peasy to put together. Anyone can do it and have a backup solar system that allows you to run some smaller appliances, certainly a lap top, a light or two, or battery, cell phone and radio chargers.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

  20. #20
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Thanks for the review!
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