Small Scale Solar Power at Home

[rightisright]

I'm looking for a way to recharge batteries in a prolonged power-down situation. I have a few generators that would work until I run out of gas. If used briefly a few times a day to power fridge, freezer, well pump and sump, I have enough gas on-hand for 30-40 days. After that, it's wood heat and squirrel stew.

I would like to be able to charge tablets (for reading, games, etc. to keep one's sanity), 12V LED lighting (I have a bunch of exterior lights from past projects), radios, flashlights, lanterns, etc.

My thought is to get a solar panel and controller like this: http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-Mono- ... ords=solar
and a decent deep cycle battery or two. I'd mount the panel in my backyard (I have very little roof real estate facing south and the part that is, is easily visible from the road) and keep the battery in the basement.

Thoughts?

[workinwifdakids]

You mentioned two things: tablets/phones, and then larger batteries. I'm anxious to know what people say about the larger batteries, but here's my setup for recharging phones, AA, and AAA batteries.

After a bunch of people here chimed in with some advice in another thread, I ended up going with this for ultra-small scale:


It's a 7 watt solar panel divided into two folding sections encased in a nylon pouch, along with a power pack, a 12v outlet, and a solar panel coupling cable. The power pack charges four 700mAh NiMh AA batteries (provided) from the panels. The pack (called a Guide 10 Plus), aside from being a AA charger, obviously, also has a micro LED light and output via USB. That's what makes it a mini charging pack for other devices. The Guide 10 Plus charging unit is also available as a separate device without the panel, so you could purchase more than one if you want. The back of the panel itself has the female 12v, as well as another USB port hard-wired into it, and a coupling port and cable for chaining together more 7 watt panels sold by Goal Zero. The back provides a zippered mesh enclosure for all the parts, including a AA --> AAA adapter.

The manufacturer's specifications indicate the use of ONLY NiMh rechargeable batteries, by the way. I went ahead and bought a 4-pack of 2550mAh Eneloop Pros . With all 8 batteries (the 4 OEM and the 4 Eneloops), plus everything else, folds together into something akin to a student's 2" 3-ring binder. And at just over a pound, this thing is WAY portable.

I ran into a bit more cash, so I picked up another of their 7 watt panels to chain to this one. When I pick up some more standard Eneloops, I will be permanently set for recharging smart phones, and all my AA devices (like flashlights) as well. I still have and love my 3 D-cell lanterns, but I picked up some D to AA adapters. Knowing the limitations of that, I'm now really comfy with lighting. I'm going to create a different thread entirely about a solar/crank flashlight from Goal Zero, so keep your eyes open for that. I hope this answers your question about small portable devices.

[workinwifdakids]

Regarding charging a deep-cycle battery, it's a great idea. I want a battery just big enough to power a couple of fans, and a solar panel just big enough to charge a second battery at the rate the first one discharges. I'll attach the battery to the fan inside a redneck air conditioner like this one, and then I'll have one-room air conditioning while the world burns.

I'd need another battery for a low-wattage countertop ice maker.

[evan price]

A close friend if mine is lighting his 30x40 foot shop using two of the harbor freight solar panel set ups to charge regular 12v truck batteries, he takes old flourescent fixtures used in office drop ceilings, strips the ballasts and tubes, and installs two 5-meter LED tape strips in the panel. Four of them is enough light to putter around, eight of them is quite bright. He runs four of these fixtures in parallel off of one truck battery. He has got four batteries, two are charging, two are in service.
I told him he needed to upgrade his home to a 200 amp service so he could run 70 amps to the shop ; he only had a 100 amp service. But he hemmed and hawed and now the utility company is saying the drop to the transformer will be overloaded because both of his neighbors have upgraded and are running high current services now and the power company wants someone to pay to upgrade the xformer and the lines.

[workinwifdakids]

My second 7 watt panel arrived today, so I figured an update would be in order. I chained it to my other one and used the 12v adapter, and - at 4pm with a few wispy clouds - it lit up the "now charging" indicator on my VX-5r ham radio. This is good news! I decided on two panels instead of one larger panel because if I get separated from my party, or one gets lost or damaged somehow, I'm not completely out of luck.

So I now have two really nice chainable 7-watt panels (weather-resistant, with a vinyl zippered enclosure, each with their own two direct-charge USB ports), two 12v adapters, the ability to charge 4AA or 4AAA NiMH batteries in about 2 hours, and then use those batteries to power small electronic USB devices or AA/AAA devices as I see fit. And all that for right at 2 pounds.

There are cheaper solutions, but I don't think there are any that are more rugged, lighter, and user-friendly.

[randy]

I'd be interested in how long it takes to charge your VX-5R. What rating and chemistry is the battery?

[workinwifdakids]

It's a 7.2V 1100mAh Li-Ion. I don't know how long it would take to charge on a 12v. I've tried looking at formulas but they don't make any sense to me.

[Weetabix]

Rightisright-

If you're not carrying it around, I like the one you posted. 100W > 10W. For portability, I'd go with workin's.