solar system for shed

[AllenSco]

I can recommend the Victron charge controllers. As for inverters, SE mentioned the Xantrex inverters to me in another post. Ive been looking at them myself and am leaning towards getting one for my system.

[Mike90250]

I use a 225W panel on a shed roof , a 90ah deep cycle battery, and a Morningstar MPPT SunSaver charge controller

https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/sunsaver-mppt/

This all charges and powers a 300w Suresine inverter https://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/suresine/

[Freeesun]

ok so i finally started pulling the trigger on some equipment and now have more questions. i ended up buying a noma solar panel and charge controller from canadian tire its a 50 watt. im going to hook it up to my spare car battery thats 75 amp hours andjust bought a go power inverter. its a small 300 watt one but its all i need. now my question is where exactly should i put fuses? i know i need one between my charge controller and battery but also people are saying i need one between my solar panel and charge controller. how big of a fuse would i need?

and finally im going to buy a new charge controller off of amazon and would like to hook up some led lights to it with a switch beside my shed door. where do i get led lights for this and how do i connect them to the charge controller? and do they need fuses??

thank you for the replys im really excited for this project. trying to make it as cheap as possible to start and go from there.

[inetdog]

You do not need any fuses between panel and CC. If you had multiple (3 or more) panels or strings of panels in parallel you would need a fuse in each string before combining. As it is, your CC and the fuse between it and the battery will protect your single panel against a double failure of panel and CC.
You basically need either a single fuse at the battery terminal to protect both CC and inverter and their wiring or one fuse for each of them. You should not run unfused battery output any distance from the battery as a short could easily be a fire hazard.
If you ground the negative battery terminal you do not need to fuse protect it. If for some reason you are building an ungrounded system you need to fuse both (+) and (-)..You can find LED devices for under counter or shelf lighting at any big box hardware. You can find units specifically designed for 12V DC input and nice appearance at RV supply stores.

[Freeesun]

I just re read this post and subeagle mentioned that depending on my c rating of my battery I should get the proper solar panel. I'm not exactly sure what the c rating of my battery is but it's a 75 ah regular car battery. He suggested that I push about 6-9 amps but I think my panel only does around 2-3.

should I double or triple my solar panel size or buy a different battery that only needs 2-3 amps.

[SunEagle]

I just re read this post and subeagle mentioned that depending on my c rating of my battery I should get the proper solar panel. I'm not exactly sure what the c rating of my battery is but it's a 75 ah regular car battery. He suggested that I push about 6-9 amps but I think my panel only does around 2-3.

should I double or triple my solar panel size or buy a different battery that only needs 2-3 amps.

The "C" rating is the Amp hour rating at 20 hours. If your battery is rated 75Ah then you should use a range of charging amps equal to 1/8th to 1/12th of that value or about 6 to 9 amps.

If your panel can only provide 2-3 amps then you would need to increase that by 3 times to get you in the range of charging amps.

[Freeesun]

Are there any batteries you guys would recommend for a 50 watt solar panel? If I upgrade my solar panel it'll cost around 250 and I paid 100 for my panel.. hopefully I can find a battery for less than 150.

I think if if I put a 265 watt solar panel on my shed that would be a little overkill for a small radio and tv used twice a month.

[Freeesun]

And should I just use the battery I have until it dies or is that dangerous? Thanks for all the reply's.

[SunEagle]

And should I just use the battery I have until it dies or is that dangerous? Thanks for all the reply's.

Usually a battery is sized based on your estimated daily watt hour usage. A 75Ah 12V battery should be able to provide about 225watt hours (75Ah x 12V x 25% = 225Wh) a day.

If you use more than 50% of the batteries availability you will shorten its life and cycle rate.

You can keep using your battery with the existing panel wattage but it may not last long which IMO is not dangerous. Just unpredictable if the TV stops working.

[Xplode]

Likely your inverter will start chirping or beeping as the battery starts to die, so you'll probably get some warning.
however, it's not good to drain the battery to that point, unless you really don't care if your battery lasts.

Since your already bought the c-tire special, and got a great price on it (normally they are a complete rip off), i say hook up what you got and play.

I think you'll find yourself buying a 250W+ panel and Couple of Golf cart batteries by next spring. 😁

In case no one mentioned it, you won't be able to run any heaters off what you're working with now. So don't plan on that.

And remember to turn off the inverter when you're not actively charging tools or watching tv. They use power, even when they look like they're doing nothing.

[Freeesun]

I'm trying my hardest not to spend a lot of money I'm buying the cheapest equipment available. Except for my go power 250watt pure sign wave inverter. I could very easily run an extension cable to my shed and have all the power in the world for $30.

im thinking the same. Next year I might upgrade but this year my gf wont let me

why do people buy buy golf cart battieres instead of car batteries?

[Ampster]

........

why do people buy buy golf cart battieres instead of car batteries?

Car batteries have high cranking Amps and golf cart batteries can deliver less power but over a longer period of time. Deep discharge is a term often used but in reality you don't want to take them below 50%.

In the off chance that you mean EV car batteries that is an entirely different philosophy and cost analysis.

[Xplode]

To expand on ampster's answer, the car batteries you buy from the auto shop are not meant to discharge over and over again. They're meant to deliver a lot of current, for a short burst (cranking).

Golf cart batteries seem to be the best balance for cost vs longevity when using them in a frequently charge/discharge cycle. Which is where we land in the renewable energy realm.

[Freeesun]

I see some batteries that are really big usually with ropes tied to either side of them for easy lifting. I checked one out on a website and it was around $600. What are your thought on them? Are they specifically made for solar systems? And wouldn't a bunch of deep cycles battery's be much better for $600?

[ButchDeal]

Is there a difference between deep cycle car battery and deep cycle golf cart battery?

Car batteries are NOT deep cycle batteries.