Can a gaming PC run solely on Solar system?

[drhosamhb]

Hello,

I currently live in a rural area where there is no electricity available. Everything here is either running on generators or on Solar system. Fortunately sun shines for 12 hours here where I live!

My question is, will it be possible to run a desktop PC solely on a solar system? What are the requirements and the speccs of the solar system should be to efficiently run the desktop for 12-16 hours per day?

I actually don't know how much power does my PC exactly consumes which is making the thing abit harder. I dont have a kill-a-watt meter and I couldnt find one available anywhere nearby. Maybe I will order one from internet very soon. But theoritically it should drain anywhere between a minimum 200Wat if idling or doing minimum tasks to 450 watts while gaming. (I7 CPU which drains max 95 watts, GTX 980TI 250wat max, 3 HDDs drains 6-10 wats, DVD rom, 16GB DDR3 ram in addition to a screen which takes 1.8A on 220V.)

My PSU on this desktop is 620watts max, 6.2A and input is 220V.

I have another solar system for lighting and for some appliances, but I dont think I will be touching that one. I just want to create one from scratch ONLY to run my PC on it.

Please tell me if any further information are needed!
And thanks in advance to anyone could help

[jflorey2]

I currently live in a rural area where there is no electricity available. Everything here is either running on generators or on Solar system. Fortunately sun shines for 12 hours here where I live!

Unfortunately that does not mean you will get full power 12 hours a day. Even excellent locations average about 6 hours a day of full power operation.

My question is, will it be possible to run a desktop PC solely on a solar system? What are the requirements and the speccs of the solar system should be to efficiently run the desktop for 12-16 hours per day?

Sure. Get a Kill-A-Watt or equivalent meter, plug your computer into it, play a few games for an hour and then see how many kwhrs you have used. That's the key number we need to calculate what kind of a system you will need. We also need a general location to figure out sun hours.

It is very hard to estimate computer power consumption from the component ratings, which is why you need some sort of a measure of power consumption.

Also figure out how your usage tracks sunlight. If you will be using the computer only during sunlight hours AND you don't mind curtailing use when it's cloudy that will have an effect on battery sizing.

I have another solar system for lighting and for some appliances, but I dont think I will be touching that one. I just want to create one from scratch ONLY to run my PC on it.

That is, in general, a mistake. You save money by having one system, and you reduce the odds of overdischarge of your batteries (which will kill them very quickly.)

[DanKegel]

Have you considered getting a gaming laptop? Those might use less power. The AC adaptor for http://www.neweggbusiness.com/produc...=9b-34-232-766 is 180 watts, for instance.

That might be cheaper than getting a solar system big enough to run your desktop gaming rig

[Logan005]

I have a computer designed to operate directly from 12volts stepped down from 24volts 2X 109AH batteries and a 19volt monitor. I do not game, but I am able to go for 8 to 10 hours. after power fail event. the 12 volt motherboard power supply is 20 to 30 dollars on e-bay, Most computer monitors and many TV's already operate from 12volts and some from 19volts. you can use a step up converter or run 24volt battery bank, for twice the run time. Just make sure you have enough panels to fully charge it. also consider building in some autonomy, 2 to 3 days longer is better for battery bank longevity. mine is not solar, I have a samlex smart charger. It can be done with 12 volt battery but much less efficient.

[drhosamhb]

Have you considered getting a gaming laptop? Those might use less power. The AC adaptor for http://www.neweggbusiness.com/produc...=9b-34-232-766 is 180 watts, for instance.

That might be cheaper than getting a solar system big enough to run your desktop gaming rig

Well, first reason is if I want to buy an equivalent laptop it will cost me far more than 1500$ and a big solar system will not exceed the 1000$ mark here. The second reason is the expandbility of the PC because I expect to add more space or more peripheral components. Third reason is the performance of a laptop can never reach that of a PC even to a 50% of a PC. I use the PC on a 28 inch screen to play games, watch movies, programming of some bio and medical informatics systems used in hospitals. I thought about buying a laptop million times but somehow I am not really satisfied about it. Thanks for your input.

[drhosamhb]

Unfortunately that does not mean you will get full power 12 hours a day. Even excellent locations average about 6 hours a day of full power operation.

Sure. Get a Kill-A-Watt or equivalent meter, plug your computer into it, play a few games for an hour and then see how many kwhrs you have used. That's the key number we need to calculate what kind of a system you will need. We also need a general location to figure out sun hours.

It is very hard to estimate computer power consumption from the component ratings, which is why you need some sort of a measure of power consumption.

Also figure out how your usage tracks sunlight. If you will be using the computer only during sunlight hours AND you don't mind curtailing use when it's cloudy that will have an effect on battery sizing.

That is, in general, a mistake. You save money by having one system, and you reduce the odds of overdischarge of your batteries (which will kill them very quickly.)

Thanks for your reply Jflorey2.

Currently I am in Yemen in the middle east, I came here before 1 month on a medical campaign and this campaign will last for around 2 years. Sun rises here on 5 AM until 6:30 PM. the weather here is almost always clear and sunny and it rarely becomes cloudy. At the mean time, the whole country is on blackout because of the political situation ongoing here and solar energy is propably the only source of energy available to me. Our campaign uses diesel generators to run our services and location but fuel is very expensive here and solar energy will be more efficient. Luckily though, solar energy systems here are sold much much cheaper than anywhere else on earth I saw before (i.e USA, Germany or UK).

Getting a kill-a-watt meter now will be so tricky for me to get, I can order it online but it will take sometime before it reaches to me. I have looked around here in the local market but it is not available. I tried to connect my PC to my current solar system I have (2x 200AH batteries connected in parallel and 4x 200watts solar panels). All batteries were charged to full and they actually ran the computer for 3 hours at night and discharged 80% then I turned the PC off to not discharge the batteries fully. I am using a generic 1500watt inverter (I am sure it is of bad quality and not well efficient) but I couldnt find a better one and I was in rush to get an inverter when I bought it.

I know that computer's power consumption is extremely variable and cann't be estimated based on components ratings because that is the maximum consumption and it is never reachable even under overclocking. I will try to get a Kill-awatt meter but I dont guarantee finding one. However, what will the solar system requirements be if we presumed that it will draw between 300-400watts for example? I am not so good in those calculations

Will it be better if I expand my current system by adding more batteries/panels or just start a new one?

My current usage tracks start after 3PM untill a maximum of 1 After midnight. During the morning I am out of home busy doing my job leaving the solar system to charge without any significant discharge.

I hope my explanation was enough to clarify the situation and thanks for your input.
If you still need anymore information please ask

[littleharbor]

You're in the middle east and fuel is very expensive there? Huh

[drhosamhb]

You're in the middle east and fuel is very expensive there? Huh

Although Yemen is considered part of the middle east, but it is one of the poorest countries on earth. Gasoline here is priced 3$ per liter, sometimes it reaches 5$ per liter (around 10.5-17.7$ per galon). So yeah this is expensive.

[SunEagle]

Thanks for your reply Jflorey2.

Currently I am in Yemen in the middle east, I came here before 1 month on a medical campaign and this campaign will last for around 2 years. Sun rises here on 5 AM until 6:30 PM. the weather here is almost always clear and sunny and it rarely becomes cloudy. At the mean time, the whole country is on blackout because of the political situation ongoing here and solar energy is propably the only source of energy available to me. Our campaign uses diesel generators to run our services and location but fuel is very expensive here and solar energy will be more efficient. Luckily though, solar energy systems here are sold much much cheaper than anywhere else on earth I saw before (i.e USA, Germany or UK).

Getting a kill-a-watt meter now will be so tricky for me to get, I can order it online but it will take sometime before it reaches to me. I have looked around here in the local market but it is not available. I tried to connect my PC to my current solar system I have (2x 200AH batteries connected in parallel and 4x 200watts solar panels). All batteries were charged to full and they actually ran the computer for 3 hours at night and discharged 80% then I turned the PC off to not discharge the batteries fully. I am using a generic 1500watt inverter (I am sure it is of bad quality and not well efficient) but I couldnt find a better one and I was in rush to get an inverter when I bought it.

I know that computer's power consumption is extremely variable and cann't be estimated based on components ratings because that is the maximum consumption and it is never reachable even under overclocking. I will try to get a Kill-awatt meter but I dont guarantee finding one. However, what will the solar system requirements be if we presumed that it will draw between 300-400watts for example? I am not so good in those calculations

Will it be better if I expand my current system by adding more batteries/panels or just start a new one?

My current usage tracks start after 3PM untill a maximum of 1 After midnight. During the morning I am out of home busy doing my job leaving the solar system to charge without any significant discharge.

I hope my explanation was enough to clarify the situation and thanks for your input.
If you still need anymore information please ask

To be safe you should figure your system will draw 400 watts for each of those 10 hours between 3pm and 1am the next day.

That is a pretty big load at 4kWh for a solar/battery system which should easily cost you much more than $1500.

You should never discharge more than 25% of your battery so for 4000 watt hour you need a battery system around 16000 wh. That is ~ 1400Ah at 12v, or 700Ah at 24v. Your solar panel wattage would be more than 1000 watts.

[DanKegel]

the performance of a laptop can never reach that of a PC even to a 50% of a PC.

Are you quite sure a laptop can't suffice? From a review of the Asus ROG laptop I linked to:
"Runs almost all games on ULTRA with 75fps"

[jflorey2]

I know that computer's power consumption is extremely variable and cann't be estimated based on components ratings because that is the maximum consumption and it is never reachable even under overclocking. I will try to get a Kill-awatt meter but I dont guarantee finding one. However, what will the solar system requirements be if we presumed that it will draw between 300-400watts for example?

OK let's assume 12 volts. (You can probably run at 12 volts without too much trouble and parts are more available.)

400 watts for 10 hours - 4 kilowatt-hours. You are going to want to size for at least 12 kwhr of storage; 20 kwhr would be better if there are periods without sun. That means at least 1000 amp-hours at 12 volts. In terms of battery storage, let's say you go with T105's which are the most common size out there. (GC2 golf cart batteries.) You'd need 5 strings of 220 amp hour 6 volt batteries for a total of 10 batteries. You also have the problem that parallel strings don't work well. So at that point it would be wise to go to either a 24 volt system (12 batteries in 3 strings) or 48 volts (16 batteries in 2 strings.) You can get T105's for under $100 if you shop carefully; in the US Costco sometimes has deals under $100.

Or you could get larger batteries. Trojan IND23-4V batteries are 1270 amp-hour so you'd only need 3 of those in a single string to power a 12V system. They run about $1200 each.

A third option (not recommended) is to go with a minimalist T105 system (6 batteries in 3 strings) and then stop your usage when you hit 50% charge. This will be hard on the batteries, but if they only have to last 2 years it might be an option. If you go this route you MUST get a good battery monitor so you know when you are getting close to 50%. Just looking at voltage is not accurate enough. You also have to have the discipline to stop when you hit that level, and not use it the next day if it's cloudy.

Will it be better if I expand my current system by adding more batteries/panels or just start a new one?

Expanding a system almost never works out well. Old batteries don't play well with new ones.

Now for the solar part:

You'll want to guarantee a full charge from a low state (say 25%) each day. So that means you will need to generate 9kwhr which is about 1.5kw of panels assuming perfect conditions. On the minimalist system you'd want to generate 6kwhr a day which means a little over 1000 watts of panels. At those sizes MPPT controllers start to make sense but are not critical.

[drhosamhb]

To be safe you should figure your system will draw 400 watts for each of those 10 hours between 3pm and 1am the next day.

That is a pretty big load at 4kWh for a solar/battery system which should easily cost you much more than $1500.

You should never discharge more than 25% of your battery so for 4000 watt hour you need a battery system around 16000 wh. That is ~ 1400Ah at 12v, or 700Ah at 24v. Your solar panel wattage would be more than 1000 watts.

Thanks for your informative input SunEagle.
Thats exactly what I am looking for, an estimation and a rough calculation of how big the solar system should be.
But if I may ask, why shouldn't I discharge the batteries more than 25%? As far as I know, good quality AGM or gel batteries can handle up to 80% discharge of its total capacity without affecting its lifespan or battery cycle expectancy. In addition to that, AGM and gel batteries can live a minimum of 5 years if cycled correctly. Please correct me if I am mistaken there.

The other point there is I will use this system for a maximum of 2 years and maybe less and it will be too heavy and space occupying to take it anywhere.

Given all of that, will it be efficient if I a built a system based on the expectation to discharge 50% of its capacity everyday? (i.e a 8000-12000wh)?

I appreciate your assistance.

[drhosamhb]

OK let's assume 12 volts. (You can probably run at 12 volts without too much trouble and parts are more available.)

400 watts for 10 hours - 4 kilowatt-hours. You are going to want to size for at least 12 kwhr of storage; 20 kwhr would be better if there are periods without sun. That means at least 1000 amp-hours at 12 volts. In terms of battery storage, let's say you go with T105's which are the most common size out there. (GC2 golf cart batteries.) You'd need 5 strings of 220 amp hour 6 volt batteries for a total of 10 batteries. You also have the problem that parallel strings don't work well. So at that point it would be wise to go to either a 24 volt system (12 batteries in 3 strings) or 48 volts (16 batteries in 2 strings.) You can get T105's for under $100 if you shop carefully; in the US Costco sometimes has deals under $100.

Or you could get larger batteries. Trojan IND23-4V batteries are 1270 amp-hour so you'd only need 3 of those in a single string to power a 12V system. They run about $1200 each.

A third option (not recommended) is to go with a minimalist T105 system (6 batteries in 3 strings) and then stop your usage when you hit 50% charge. This will be hard on the batteries, but if they only have to last 2 years it might be an option. If you go this route you MUST get a good battery monitor so you know when you are getting close to 50%. Just looking at voltage is not accurate enough. You also have to have the discipline to stop when you hit that level, and not use it the next day if it's cloudy.

Expanding a system almost never works out well. Old batteries don't play well with new ones.

Now for the solar part:

You'll want to guarantee a full charge from a low state (say 25%) each day. So that means you will need to generate 9kwhr which is about 1.5kw of panels assuming perfect conditions. On the minimalist system you'd want to generate 6kwhr a day which means a little over 1000 watts of panels. At those sizes MPPT controllers start to make sense but are not critical.

Thanks for your informative and detailed reply, Jflorey2.
Your reply is straight to my point, the first option sounds the best to me. So to make it short all what I need is arou d 12kwh, around 1000A at 12 volts and around 1.5kw of solar panels (like 5 panels of 300 watts or 6 of 250 watts).
Minimalist system is around 660Amps at 12 volts, which generates around 7920whr and 1kw solar panels.

Actually I am not so concerned about sun here because my other solar system is always full right at the afternoon. It is almost always sunny here through out the day.

I will keep you updated with it as soon as anything new comes up.

I appreciate your kind assistance and the time you spent on writing your reply, it is extremely helpful to me. Thank you.

[drhosamhb]

Are you quite sure a laptop can't suffice? From a review of the Asus ROG laptop I linked to:
"Runs almost all games on ULTRA with 75fps"

Well, to be honest It is still a viable option to get a laptop and get rid of all the hassle of the solar system to run a PC. On the long run it will be a good investment too because after 2 years when I am done here this solar system will propably go to waste. I expected the requirements of the solar system to run my PC will be big but I didnt expect it will be really really big. Electricity was never a field of interest for me.

However, I have few concerns about getting a laptop instead. First concern is the storage, I have around 8TBs of storage (Programs, health information systems, Games and movies) and laptops usually have limited storage.The other concern is performance and handling programming loads and multi tasking. Benchmarkings of Laptops' CPUs and GPUs are not really attractive, equivalent computer parts (e.g GTX980Ti vs GTX980 vs GTX980M) on benchmarks is (11600 vs 9700 vs 5800 on G3D passmark). CPUs benchmarks are the same for PC and Laptop equivalent models.

Actually I have been looking at laptops as well, the most attractive laptop to me (speccs wise) is Acer Predator 17 G9-791-78CE. Still both my concerns are there as well.

[littleharbor]

Many laptops these days are in the 1TB range. You can always load up relatively inexpensive external hard drives with all your programs, movies, etc.