Solar power

[paintball]

I looked into this option for quite some time and came up with something that will work for me... (my thoughts) I personally believe if you want something to use just as a backup not for all time power and off the grid that a small set up to run a few lights the general things that are needed. I bought a small solar panel off ebay for 25 bucks and a charge controller for another 25 bucks, then used two car batterys that I had extra and hooked it all together with a power inverter i can run lights, radio, comms., with this set up I can run these items for several hours. I believe in the shtf scenario there wont be alot of time to sit and watch tv, bask in the lights of a totally off the grid system that costs hundreds to thousands dollars. this set up will just be enough for what is needed and no more. just my thoughts

[Morguns1Cam]

Paint Ball,
Give us some more data about your setup, How many watts does your panel generate, and how long does it take it to recharge your two batteries?
Thanks !
Cam

[paintball]

watts and volts

The panel produces 12-18 volts and 5 watts. the batterys are regular car batterys. I have run lights and radio for a couple hours and it doesnt seem to come close to running the batterys down. I havnt ever run the batterys completly down to see how long it takes to re-charge. Like I said before when TSHTF Id say we will be busy doing other things that use of the lights and other activities will be limited to a short time a day.

[Morguns1Cam]

5 watts at 12 volts is only 0.4 amps, Its gonna take along time to recharge those batteries when they get low. 10 panels would make 4 amps and would do a pretty decent recharge on a sunny day. I like the solar idea, but the cost of enough panels to do much is pretty high, not to mention space consuming.
Hopefully they will get the panels more efficient and smaller!
Thanks!
Cam

[Dracos]

It depends on what kind of shtf. If you are sitting in a fallout shelter for two weeks I assure you a dvd player will be priceless. One project I am working on now is an exercise bicycle that also charges batteries. Also it would be useful to pull some air through the filters. A power inverter draws a lot of current to make AC. It would be better to have electronics than run off the same voltage as your batteries

[Morguns1Cam]

Good idea, shouldn't be too hard to hook up a small generator to the bike wheel, a small windmill isn't a bad idea either, I might look into that one!
Cam

[Brosia]

more and more, I'd love to have solar power, but the price is so high!

[paintball]

this is true

yes if the power is run off the batterys only you will run them down
but the panel I got, during the day will run the inverter without the batterys and will power a small tv and dvd player all day long. I have used it strait without the batterys and works well. The batterys are used in the night for a few hours light before sleep.

[cwconnertx]

yes if the power is run off the batterys only you will run them down
but the panel I got, during the day will run the inverter without the batterys and will power a small tv and dvd player all day long. I have used it strait without the batterys and works well. The batterys are used in the night for a few hours light before sleep.

Doesn't even seem possible with such a small panel. To run and inverter and Tv and DVD player all day with only a 5 watt panel?

I have 105 watts of panels and don't think I could do that.

Even if I could I wouldn't be able to charge the batteries.
I have 2 trojan L-16 batteries with 105 watts of solar charging to accomplish the simple tasks you are proposing. My system, because of the battery capacity can run an air conditioner for 2 hours to a reasonable depth of discharge. But these batteries are huge, forklift traction batteries, definitely not regular car batteries. And I have a generator, and the alternator on an isolator to charge these systems.

Either my system is not right or yours violates the laws of physics.

Is it possible your panel puts out 5 amps and not 5 watts?

5 amps would be enough for a small tv.

[paintball]

power

well I didnt say before, the tv is a 12 volt. I have had this system several months and have used it on several occasions just testing it out. I realize that if the batterys are run completly down that it will take some time to recharge them, for this I plan on getting another panel or two but so far I havnt had any complications with run down batterys. This system may not be suited for everyone but it works fine for me.

[InjOnly]

well I didnt say before, the tv is a 12 volt. I have had this system several months and have used it on several occasions just testing it out. I realize that if the batterys are run completly down that it will take some time to recharge them, for this I plan on getting another panel or two but so far I havnt had any complications with run down batterys. This system may not be suited for everyone but it works fine for me.

Sounds like you've got a good start on something but I'm curious about your batteries. You mentioned they were just regular car batteries and if thats the case I would suggest you upgrade them to deep cycle marine batteries.
A standard car battery is designed to give you high amps for a short time. Thats what you need to crank an engine on a cold day. They also fail quickly if you continue to drain them too much. I'm not an engineer on this but it has something to do with the design of the plates inside.
Deep cyccle batteries are designed to give less amps over a longer period and can also withstand the stress of beieng discharged below a minimun voltage level repeatedly.
If your really serious about storeing energy look into golf cart batteries.

[paintball]

Thank You

For the input I thank you. I have been thinking about that and wanted to get some deep cell batterys when I started this project but I had these batterys on hand at the moment and used them for the time being. In th future Id like to eventually get some deep cells for a lot longer storage of power.