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I borrowed/stole this from another site but found the post very useful, if anyone has any similar experiences or reviews please chime in
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I recently got a hold of the four-panel box set solar generator from Tractor Supply. I thought it was a good testbed for future solar installations, and I am NOT looking at this to power my entire house, so please keep that in mind as I do this overview.
The entire set was about $300, plus another 30 for a spare charge controller (you never know). Batteries, of course, will put you back a bit more.
First off, these are Chinese-made panels, so they are only about 24 volts each, one Amp. Four of them came in the kit. These are the same panels used individually to charge 12-volt car batteries. Also included was a very solid PVC frame to mount them on. The final setup can be seen here:
The only problem with this setup, which wound up at roughly 3x5 feet, was that it needed to be moved around the yard for best exposure, not easy when you consider that these panels are GLASS and assembled, it's closer to a giant picture frame then a generator. As such, using some boards, caster wheels, rope, two soup cans, and a pool noodle for shock absorbers, we now have THIS:
The 'fuze box', where all the wires come together, is waterproof, made of a glass jar, and a modified lid (lots of tape).
We've tried a few normal batteries and a 175 watt inverter. This was enough to run strong power tools, a laptop, cell phones, and, without the battery and with no inverter and a 12-volt female socket attached directly to the panels, any 12-volt appliance we had directly including normal battery chargers for AA's and the like from the sun. The one thing it could not run directly was the house water-pump, a huge deep-well thing, though the smaller pump used in the swimming pool for emergency water works fine.
I've assembled three 12-volt deep-cycle marine batteries in parallel, and will be attaching a 700 Watt inverter. That should in theory run almost anything. The batteries are on a rolling cart too, made of an old fiberglass wagon. Today the wind was blowing like mad, but tomorrow the panels will be pushed into the middle of the yard, the battery cart will go alongside it, and the charging will begin again!
So overall, not a bad semi-replacement for a gas generator. The battery bank is roughly the same mass to drag around as a small gas one, but with the other half constantly 'refueling' it by simply being left in the yard in a sunny spot, there's no fuel costs. I'm pretty happy with it, charging it by day and using it by night, though this is not a permanent solution to power needs. I plan in the short term future to get a bigger inverter and wire up a second battery set so I can alternate them
===========
I recently got a hold of the four-panel box set solar generator from Tractor Supply. I thought it was a good testbed for future solar installations, and I am NOT looking at this to power my entire house, so please keep that in mind as I do this overview.
The entire set was about $300, plus another 30 for a spare charge controller (you never know). Batteries, of course, will put you back a bit more.
First off, these are Chinese-made panels, so they are only about 24 volts each, one Amp. Four of them came in the kit. These are the same panels used individually to charge 12-volt car batteries. Also included was a very solid PVC frame to mount them on. The final setup can be seen here:
The only problem with this setup, which wound up at roughly 3x5 feet, was that it needed to be moved around the yard for best exposure, not easy when you consider that these panels are GLASS and assembled, it's closer to a giant picture frame then a generator. As such, using some boards, caster wheels, rope, two soup cans, and a pool noodle for shock absorbers, we now have THIS:
The 'fuze box', where all the wires come together, is waterproof, made of a glass jar, and a modified lid (lots of tape).
We've tried a few normal batteries and a 175 watt inverter. This was enough to run strong power tools, a laptop, cell phones, and, without the battery and with no inverter and a 12-volt female socket attached directly to the panels, any 12-volt appliance we had directly including normal battery chargers for AA's and the like from the sun. The one thing it could not run directly was the house water-pump, a huge deep-well thing, though the smaller pump used in the swimming pool for emergency water works fine.
I've assembled three 12-volt deep-cycle marine batteries in parallel, and will be attaching a 700 Watt inverter. That should in theory run almost anything. The batteries are on a rolling cart too, made of an old fiberglass wagon. Today the wind was blowing like mad, but tomorrow the panels will be pushed into the middle of the yard, the battery cart will go alongside it, and the charging will begin again!
So overall, not a bad semi-replacement for a gas generator. The battery bank is roughly the same mass to drag around as a small gas one, but with the other half constantly 'refueling' it by simply being left in the yard in a sunny spot, there's no fuel costs. I'm pretty happy with it, charging it by day and using it by night, though this is not a permanent solution to power needs. I plan in the short term future to get a bigger inverter and wire up a second battery set so I can alternate them
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