What kind of solar set up would I need to run two ceiling fans, a laptop with internet, a small refrigerator, a tv, and some LED lighting?
>>1019848
ceiling fans 100w
laptop etc 120w
fridge 1000w
tv 100w
led lighting 100w
total about 1500w
you will need 100x 15w solar panels
or 10x 150w panels
Also maybe a plug in for phone changing.
>>1019854
add 1w
>>1019852
What about a battery bank for charging and using the devices overnight? And the inverters or rectifiers or whatever I would need?
Off grid solar calculator.
>google it
Are there any sources on the internet where I could figure this all out?
>>1019860
thank you
>>1019852
1000W is a bit much for the fridge, especially if it's a fridge designed for use in a motor home. Fridges also don't run 100% of the time.
You also need to factor in that you'll only get sun for a max of 8-12 hours a day. So you'll want to at least triple any continuous loads if you need to run them 24/7.
Has anybody here ever lived off grid? Is it a pain in the ass? I built a small 16x16 cabin back in the woods and plan on making a solar tower with battery bank at the base.
>>1019854
Oh shit, nigga. Now you've gone too far.
>>1019876
If they're on 4chan,its safe to say they ain't off grid
>>1020071
I will be the first to shitpost off the grid
>>1019848
I would advise for getting at least a small gas generator. yamaha makes a pretty nice propane one. and habor freight carry's gasoline ones. idk what your plans on small house/motor home/trailer/boat/cuckcontainershed. but having a system you can expand on if need be, is nice.
15 150watt solar panels are about the 200 dollar ball park from a decent brand/company is 3,000 dollars for just the panels, not including all the lead acid marine battery's to take the charge. each one is like 80 bucks. lets say you're gonna need at least 6. you're now at 3,480 dollars. now you've gotta buy the cables to connect all the battery's together.. point is, you're WAYY beyond a decent generator.
>>1019852
Who made up this list of incorrect wattages? lol
>>1019848
Look on every device and find how much energy it uses or google its brand and model number. That is "volts x amps = watts". Example: Fridge, 115v x 6.5amps = 747.5watts
Use this
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-information/start-here/offgrid-calculator
or
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-information/start-here/gridtie-calculator
Here;s what my off grid system requirements would be in this image. The cost at the cheapest eBay prices would be $3,000-$5,000 for panels only. This cost wouldn't include batteries, so onto the battery size calculator:
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/solar-information/battery-bank-sizing
Using these batteries
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/9960100/crown/batteries/crown-cr430-6v-flooded-l16-battery
My results also in this image. It'd cost me $9,920 in batteries for a completely off grid system. Total cost would be $12,920 to $14,920 plus another $2000 for things like shipping costs and crap I need to buy/make to install everything. For me that'd be about $17k-$18k just to go off grid.
My problem is that my electric costs all of $0.10 per kwh. My electric bill is $30-$40 a month right now. That's $360 to $480 per year. At best, it would take 35.4 to 37.5 years for this system to pay off. However, the batteries will need to be replaced every 5 to 10 years. So that's another $35,116.80 to $74,400 extra. Basically, the system will never pay for itself in savings. The only thing I would get out of it is stability for my electric needs. No subsidies, where I live. Power company takes money off the bill if you sell to them.
So, I bought a shitty $200 generator from Harbor Freight and pay like $50 in fuel to run my fridge and sewage sump pump/water well pump (both calc'd together in pic) once in a while when the electric goes out for as long as 14 days. When the power is out, I use my 35watt netbook with an external HDD and read my library of books for entertainment.
>>1020124
I must also mention that for my netbook, I have a car charger and a clamp-on cigarette lighter adapter. I can clamp the adapter to any 12volt battery, plug the car charger into it, and plug it into the netbook. This extends my netbook's lifetime while the power is out pretty much indefinitely.
For my PC or any other 115volt-requiring device I have a cheap ass inverter, also from Harbor Freight. I strap it and a car battery to a dolly and wheel the system around for portable power backup. This is great for when I don't want to fire up the generator and only need power for a short amount of time for 1-2 devices. My PC uses a UPS so the cheap terrible-wave inverter doesn't bother it. The UPS has also saved my PC from countless power flickers that used to destroy my HDDs like clock work (3 dead drives a year usually.)
I have found that reduction in power consumption has saved me more than any sort of self-power generation. I still have very DIY stuff, like my old exercise bike I converted to a recumbent electric generator I can use while seated at my PC. I can use it to trickle charge 12v batteries. Like the small 5aH one for my netbook.
>>1019876
I did for 5 years (had to stop because we had kids)
With all "comfort", I had a 10KWH battery bank of deep discharge battery (not the gel stuff, just the marine "deep discharge" grade), weight was 220Kg. Battery life with intensive use was 2 years (you can buy the heavy 2V one, was too much for us). Victron converter to get that back to 230V (eurofag here). We could run 2 to 3 days with just the batteries. Solar panel without tracking stuff can get 3hr of production per day on average, so our need was 1kw of solar panels. The generator is almost mandatory for days without sun, however get a "small" good quality one. We bought a Honda EU 30IS, was too big and should have bought a 10 instead (better to charge slower). Off the grid life is possible (we used iridium sat phone and/or 3G modems depending where we were) but keeping comfort comes at a cost.
Also, don't get the crappy RV Fridge, they are very poorly insulated. Get a basic fridge, the good ones use around 700W/h per day. Even with an inverter, global power use is way better.
>>1020080
You'll also want a low voltage cut off and a charge controller for each battery. May not ever come to a point where it's needed, but they're cheaper than replacing batteries later.
>>1019848
asmall one.,,tiny.
,,justo start,, any panel will DO!, old car battery is Greato learnon., batterys rarely die a natural death,, its murder.
,also,, your appliances make the differance!, low watt Fridges are pricey,,, start with old fridge and glue THICK! THICKER, insilation on., you can take the Fridge off Battery and just run it solar direct, letting the thermal mass carry it over night.
,,,Best way? start now.
,i suggest Amazon impulse buy RIGHT NOW! Unisolar 136 cost210$,,portable (Dont roll tighter then 20 inch diameter!),, nail to tree,, hang like a tarp,,its preglued for your roof,,, if its too long then CUT OFF the excess.
,, and a 24 to12volt inverter.
,done~
,,,Charge controllers cutoff overvoltage to stop batterys from boiling,, but MAYBE, you like explosive gas.,, in the old days they also blocked reverse flow to the panels letting the sun shine back out and draining the batts., modern panels all have blocking diodes.
,
,, its like freeclimbing,,Hand on the Rock!
>>1020300
dude, go to bed and tell us tomorrow what your drunk mind thought.
payback,,, was less then,, 3 years.
>>1020303
sorry,,, ill just demo.
pic> mid winter, lite clouds, poor angle.
>>1019858
>battery
Why not a wheel ? Inertia wheel is a thing too
>>1020303
It is okay, he always types like that and knows his shit about solar and grid tie solar.
