Solar Electricity for Dummies

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

I want to learn about Solar electricity and things like batteries, chargers, converters, solar panels but frankly cannot understand what I am reading. Is there a simply-stated book (like for children) that could help. I am building a conventional on-the-grid home but would like to monkey with solar as a hobby/potential energy saver. I'd like to know for instance, what could a car battery that has been charged by solar run? A washer or dryer? a computer? an outdoor light? Are there websites that explain in simple language what is needed? Everything has to be simple and (hopefully) inexpensive.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), January 06, 2002

Answers

a solar charged car battery can run a light, radio or a fence charger. takes a little more juice to run larger appliances.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 06, 2002.

you stil have to consider the amps and volts ,, with 1 car battery,, 12 volts,, and 70 amps (approx). if you use an inverter,,you will have even less power. doa search,,, mr solar ,, thats a good site explain alot.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 06, 2002.

If your interested in solar power jump over to http://www.homepower.com This is a solar power magazine. They have copies of the entire magazine online. They also have info about solar in general. also www.mrsolar.com is a nice site with info.

Solar and inexpensive NEVER go togeather.

A car battery in general is NOT designed to run much at all. Just act as a resovour to power things until the motor is running to recharge the battery. So Car batteries make poor batteries for solar experiments. Marine, trolling or deep cycle batteries are better. They are designed to be discharged almost completely then recharged back to life. How many watts you can charge a day vs how many watts capacity your battery has to store plus how much you use will determine what you can run.

Simple layout. Solar panel --- Marine battery ----- Inverter. A 20 watt solar panel will cost $200 new Marine battery will cost $60 new A low end consumer grade inverter will cost you another $60. 20 watts is not much power, The low end inverter draws power even if not being used. So for this you can power a 20watt light bulb.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), January 06, 2002.


I am learning about solar.....

Don't you need a charge controller to protect the battery from overcharging? Or in the scenario you layed out is it ok to assume that the battery won't over charge as long as the bulb is always burning, and someone is there to change it if it burns out?

Does anyone know how long a charge controller and an inverter can be expected to last?

-- Rick (Rick_122@hotmail.com), January 06, 2002.


Ann- On this guy's site he details how to build a small-scale generator. I haven' tried it, but it should work. Since your message said you wanted to tinker inexpensively, this may get you started. Jack http://www.rain.org/~philfear/how2solar.html

-- jack (atl.jack@excite.com), January 06, 2002.


Don't know if you will find this helpful, but my the sight I've learned a lot from is http://www.newenglandsolar.com . You don't neccessarily need an inverter you can use DC light bulbs even i. e. I wanted a form to run a brooder off the grid.

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 06, 2002.

For a couple of simple lighting circuits an inverter isn't needed actually. Use 12Vdc lights, like you'd find in a camper etc.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 06, 2002.

Katie mentioned New England Solar. There is a considerable amount of good information at their site. Also check out their book section. "Solar Electric Independent Home Book" is an very good source for a novice. Another good source of info is mrsolar.com. You can take an independent study college course on solar electricity at this site that you can customize to your application. You will learn from the course and get advice about you application at the same time.

-- Marty Palange (MPalange@ahmail.com), January 07, 2002.

You could, by utilizing an iverter and proper controls, run most any electric appliance on a charged car battery. But not for long! A car battery will only hold about 80-90 amp hours, whichy, at 12 volts, equals about 1000 watt hours. If you had, say, a table saw which took 1000 watts to run, it would only be able to run off the battery for one hour, theoretically. This ignores efficiencey losses.

If you are hooking up to the grid anyway, I'd recommend avoiding the use of batteries altogether, personally. You can do an "interface" system, and use the power company for a "de facto" battery. You'll be able to afford a much bigger system with the money you save from not buying batteries, charge controllers, etc. Not to mention the care and feeding of the batteries would not be necessary, nor the cost of replacing them every few years.

I agree with Gary: visit www.homepower.com. It's the best overall source of information on all facets of alternative energy that I've found. The folks who produce the mag live out my way, and they are good folks.

-- joj (jump@off.c), January 07, 2002.


Damn! I've been looking for a book like this and was so excited when I saw the title of this thread!

Can't someone write a beginner's guide to solar electricity? Please?

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 08, 2002.



A good printable article on "The Almighty Battery" is located at http://www.motherearthnews.com/energy/energy172.batt.shtml Even I understood this one! Annette

-- A.Eadie (a.eadie@mailexcite.com), January 08, 2002.

I hear ya. They're way over my head too. It's the math. I'm going in the direction of passive solar. It's very low tech if you want it to be. I even found at one time online a link to " how to build solar panels out of cd cases" It was on some kids learning or fun projects page.It was Something like discovery or learning channel.

-- Erin Pauley upstate ny (laydbrat@myexcel.com), January 12, 2002.

Thanks Annette, I'll check out that site.

Erin, where in upstate NY are you from? There are several of us upstaters on the forum. I live near Binghamton.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), January 13, 2002.


If you are mechanically inclined,you can tinker with solar power for very little money,but don't expect to get "something for nothing".It takes a considerable investment to produce a usable amount of electricity from solar power.It is much more feasable to use water power,if you have at least a five foot drop across your property.Backwoods Solar Electric Company sells quite a number of energy producing products,but it gets quite expensive!Check out their on line catalog.Good Luck with your quest!!!!

-- Tom Garrity (nutcase@gis.net), January 31, 2002.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ