Off Grid Solar Shed - Choosing Batteries - First Post and PV Project

[unt0uchable]

I've sort of passed by the CFL's. I'd rather spend my money once on the LED's than go CFL only to still want LED technology in the future. I remember finding a decent price on Amazon. I'm going to buy some for our bedroom, which has 6 can lights currently. Problem being...every room in our home has dimmer switches short of the kitchen and bathrooms...

[SunEagle]

I've sort of passed by the CFL's. I'd rather spend my money once on the LED's than go CFL only to still want LED technology in the future. I remember finding a decent price on Amazon. I'm going to buy some for our bedroom, which has 6 can lights currently. Problem being...every room in our home has dimmer switches short of the kitchen and bathrooms...

Except for the LED fixtures I mentioned above the rest of the lights in my house are now CFL. I still have about a half dozen spare 14 watt CFL but have already replaced one that failed with a CREE 10watt LED lamp to try it out.

[unt0uchable]

I've got a couple of boxes of 60w equivalents but they are way to yellow for out liking. I put them in the lower floor half bath, but we have the "reveal" CFL's in our master bath and out closet, if I recall.

I found a pretty sweet deal on eBay. Straight from China, of course. but they are 9w LED mushroom lights that look like they will fit the holes in our can lights fairly well. I just don't want to throw up some rinky dink regular size bulb. I'd like it to look nice as well. I emailed the seller and they are willing to cut a deal on the amount that I need (35 bulbs) to do the whole house. I like the idea of changing the whole house over so I can see the drastic decrease on the electricity bill, rather than one room at a time and only seeing marginal differences.

Back on the shed topic. I'm also looking into a solar motion sensing light for above the front doors. Something aesthetically pleasing that goes with the style of the shed and also something that has a fairly small range to detect motion. I don't want squirrels setting it off every 3 minutes. I found one on Amazon that says it only has a 3 meter range which I think would be perfect. The lights I am looking at have built in solar panels and run completely on there own. It's not something I'll need on all night, just something in case I'm out there into the evening in the winter and need to see while locking the doors and what not.

[SunEagle]

I've got a couple of boxes of 60w equivalents but they are way to yellow for out liking. I put them in the lower floor half bath, but we have the "reveal" CFL's in our master bath and out closet, if I recall.

I found a pretty sweet deal on eBay. Straight from China, of course. but they are 9w LED mushroom lights that look like they will fit the holes in our can lights fairly well. I just don't want to throw up some rinky dink regular size bulb. I'd like it to look nice as well. I emailed the seller and they are willing to cut a deal on the amount that I need (35 bulbs) to do the whole house. I like the idea of changing the whole house over so I can see the drastic decrease on the electricity bill, rather than one room at a time and only seeing marginal differences.

Back on the shed topic. I'm also looking into a solar motion sensing light for above the front doors. Something aesthetically pleasing that goes with the style of the shed and also something that has a fairly small range to detect motion. I don't want squirrels setting it off every 3 minutes. I found one on Amazon that says it only has a 3 meter range which I think would be perfect. The lights I am looking at have built in solar panels and run completely on there own. It's not something I'll need on all night, just something in case I'm out there into the evening in the winter and need to see while locking the doors and what not.

Just make sure you purchase the LED lamps with the same "base" as the ones you are replacing. Some are screw like the E-12 or E-27 and others are bayonet like the GU10 or even some are straight push pin type like the G9. There are way too many flavors that are being made and real easy to make a mistake.

[unt0uchable]

Indeed! I spent a good portion of yesterday learning all about the different sockets. E27 will be the ones. Thanks!

[unt0uchable]

So this setup has been working flawlessly for the last year and a half or so. I've sort of neglected replacing the T8's with LED's because I've had other projects around the house to tend to but regardless, everything is working nicely. I've managed to use an angle grinder, chop saw, and a few other power tools off the battery storage I have. Everything worked really well. The only modification I'm going to do still is to extend the switch for the inverter down to the switch plate in the wall so I can turn them on from the same spot on the wall instead of reaching up to flip the inverter on, then the light switch.

I've got a new venture I'm looking into and I need some insight.

When I redid the entire setup after returning the Harbor Freight stuff, I ended with the following setup:

Solar Panel: http://www.ebay.com/itm/100W-Watts-1...item3cd99e3b95
Controller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-10-15-20-3...item19dc5c7794
Battery: Deep Cycle Marine Group 27 (I think) from WalMart

So my question is this: I've recently purchased a LifePo4 (lithium) battery for my ATV that I store in the shed (main use is for plowing snow in the winters) and I'd like to run an extra set of leads off the "charge terminals" so I can essentially keep the battery topped up when its not in use. Can anyone comment on whether or not I can charge a LiPo battery with a standard MPPT controller? I did find a similar unit that was rated at 30a but it says under "batteries supported" - Lithium Ion, and it doesn't mention lead acid or anything else.

Thanks for any input!

Also thought I'd throw a few photos of it all finished up....painted the rails black and the frame of the panel. It nearly blends right in now....heh.

CameraZOOM-20140430170908335.jpg
CameraZOOM-20140430170919186.jpg

[thastinger]

You don't need to tend a LiFePo4 battery, they will maintain a charge for over a year.

If you feel the need to check it, you can charge it with a regular "smart" charger or your ATV onboard system will also charge it.
They don't like the cold though, you may find that the battery seems really weak when it is cold and you first hit the starter. If this happens, wait 10 seconds to hit the starter again and you should be good to go (the initial attempted start internally heats the battery, so the second attempt will be near full power.

[unt0uchable]

You don't need to tend a LiFePo4 battery, they will maintain a charge for over a year.

If you feel the need to check it, you can charge it with a regular "smart" charger or your ATV onboard system will also charge it.
They don't like the cold though, you may find that the battery seems really weak when it is cold and you first hit the starter. If this happens, wait 10 seconds to hit the starter again and you should be good to go (the initial attempted start internally heats the battery, so the second attempt will be near full power.

Thanks for the reply! I understand these are very low maintenance batteries and tend to hold the charge for quite a while but my worry is that my ATV charging circuit may not be enough to keep it charged up after use of the plow and the head lights and caution lights I will be mounting to the racks.. I suppose what I'll do is just check my starting voltage and see where it's at when I finish plowing. That should give me a good idea on whether or not I need to worry about it.

Thanks a lot for the reply!

[Sunking]

So my question is this: I've recently purchased a LifePo4 (lithium) battery for my ATV that I store in the shed (main use is for plowing snow in the winters) and I'd like to run an extra set of leads off the "charge terminals" so I can essentially keep the battery topped up

Last thing you want to do is store a LFP or any lithium battery fully charged up. You want to store them in a partial state of charge of around 60% or for a 12 volt battery about 12.4 volts. Refresh once a year.

You gotta to get the LEAD OUT out for Lithium. When ready to use then charge up.

[unt0uchable]

Thanks for the insight! I'm new to the lithium world so I'm learning, you guys have great information!