I need help!! Solar generator.

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  • Kcarr2010
    Junior Member
    • Jul 2019
    • 1

    #1

    I need help!! Solar generator.

    I hope I'm posting this correctly as it's my first post here. I want to create a solar generator that will power a computer, a lamp and a tv through the night. Nothing major. What watt solar panel will I need? What amp charge controller? How many deep cycle batteries? What size inverter? I have a general idea how to make it but the numbers are confusing me like crazy!! Please any help will GREATLY be appreciated!
    thank you so much for your time.
  • inetdog
    Super Moderator
    • May 2012
    • 9909

    #2
    First step:
    Figure out how much power your loads will actually need, or measure it with a Kill-A-Watt meter. Do this over a 24 hour period, since all but the light may be used all day as well as all night.
    Then looking only at night you can figure your battery size and looking at that and daytime consumption you can size your panel.
    The first set of information will also let you decide on the inverter, but getting a DC power supply for your computer (laptop, I hope) and a low voltage LED lamp will save you a lot of energy. It is always preferable to conserver rather than increase the size of your system.
    SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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    • Mike90250
      Moderator
      • May 2009
      • 16020

      #3
      Lets assume 300w for all three pieces of gear. Night in the winter lasts 12 hours. 300w x 12h = 3,600 round up to 4Kwh for easy math.

      A pair of 6v 200ah golf cart batteries has 1200 wh total. 2 in series gives you 2400wh, half of which is usable. so you need 4 golf cart batteries wired series/parallel 2S2P
      you now have 12V 400ah, but still not enough to go all night without seriously draining your batteries.

      Maybe shave your lighting load to 20W of LED lighting. That will help. Maybe your night is not 12 hours. So do some moore figuring. After loads are defined, the battery can be chosen, and then using your location, PVWatts can be consulted for how much solar is needed to recharge the batteries.
      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
      || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
      || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

      solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
      gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

      Comment

      • AndrewCoates
        Junior Member
        • May 2020
        • 11

        #4
        I am using ECO-WORTHY mppt inverter. It makes up a long-lasting solar power source. It is a topnotch inverter that has a robust design and construction to serve me for years.
        Last edited by AndrewCoates; 11-23-2020, 05:55 AM.

        Comment

        • chrisski
          Solar Fanatic
          • May 2020
          • 576

          #5
          Originally posted by AndrewCoates
          I am using ECO-WORTHY
          I’m happy to see ECO-Worthy is treating you well. I ordered twice from them, and canceled twice. They were further backlogged than they led me to believe when I placed the order. They did offer to ship directly from China for more money, but I felt that should have been included in shipping in the initial order.

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