short video describing a small solar power system that i set up at my house. it consists of twelve 1 amp solar panels (15 watts each for a total of 180 watts of power – per hour). i use it to run all lights (CFL’s), fans, tv’s, and stereos in the house. also the microwave, coffee maker, blender, can opener, sandwich grill, toaster, vacuum, computer and anything else i can think of. run time for lights/fans only is approx 8 hours. add in vacuuming, microwaving or toaster along with lights, tv and the fans and the run time is reduced to 4-5 hours a day. i bought solar panels, inverter (1000 watt) and killowatt meter at Harbor Freight tools, the batteries (deep cycle) from walmart and the battery cables from checker auto. total cost was about 00 to 00
would it be possible to do this setup with one 5 watt solar panel 1 battery and one 400 watt inverter. because all i want to power is several things in my room. if not what quantity of the items i would need and whats the total watts i would need? i would really appreciate any advice or help. thank you
a 5 watt solar panel would take to long to charge the battery. for running a couple of lights, radio, tv, computer, small fan for a few hours a day, you would probably want to have 2 batteries and two 45 watt ‘harbor freight’ solar panel set ups. with this particular system, i would use a charge controller that can handle at least 7 amps.
well im getting a 15 watt panel, a 7 amp charge controller, and a 400 watt inverter. but all im puring is 1 light for about 1 hour a alarm clock, and a tv for about a hour a day. and by the way you have a nice setup.
Very cool system. I am jealous. Thanks for the awesome video.
I like your system i am in the process of building a system like this in my room. with those panals how many hours a day are they getting sun light?
and you need to do an update to let us know how it is going thanks
hi everybody! I’m new to this, some people use 2 6 volt batteries in tandem instead of one 12 volt. what is the advantage?
@Tomthetoolman100 – i’m still running the same system (12 panels and 4 batteries). the whole system has held up very well. i’ve recently started running leaf blower/vac, hedgetrimmer and other power tools off of the solar setup. i’ve also been able to run the washing machine (the system needs to be fully charged for the battery bank to be able to handle the power requirement). the panels are getting about 10 hours a day of sunlight.
@madcyborg – yes, i did look into that. i use all the power that the system generates though, so i wouldn’t have any extra power to sell them back. regarding inverters in general, i have thought about buying a ‘pure’ sinewave inverter. home depot sells a 1000 watt one for about $269.00
Are you messing with your panel setup. I have now 4 HF 45 watt kits 125 watt panel and a 3 five watt panel and 8 watt and a 13 watt connected.
I literary made my meter spin backwards need better cam for the meter to see it spin backwards.but it does spin backwards.
Would like to see a update vid from you
Are the batteries on the floor? I hear that you lose charge if the are. Is that true?
@rocket27 keeping batteries on a floor should not affect their ability to retain a charge.
@rocket27 dont listen to that crap where ever you hear it think about it!
Thanks for sharing , good vid bro .
@desertsun02
why so expensive?
there is one invereter 1500 pure sineway
for a 200.00 free shiping
any way good video soon i will made my too
Get those batteries out of the house, your suppose to have the batteries in a vented room. The reason is that when the batteries charge they give out deadly gases.
how much was the panels and where from
@tmjump96 batteries do put out a very small amount of hydrogen when in the final stages of charging. it is a very small amount that would easily dissipate in a large room. (the air in an average room of a house is completely exchanged with outside air every 4 hours or so just from air entering around windows doors etc…)
@Tomthetoolman100 i bought the panels from Harbor Freight Tools. a 3 panel set cost about $200.00 but i have seen them for $169.00 a set on sale.
@kricotoy a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter for $200.00 is a good deal. i’ve decided to buy A Xantrex prowatt sw inverter.
Ingenious, thanks I will try it too.
Been watching a lot of DIY PV project, yours is really simple but great.
how much do you save on bills
Very nice. am getting closer, almost backwards in my approach. I have a 1500/3000 watt pure sine inverter & a 1800 too.
Glass panes I have found, and about 2.6 KW of cells to build into panels. I see these panels and cells keep getting cheaper over the past 6 months or so, I guess many US firms have packed it in and moved to China.
Did I miss your charge controller/regulator ?
@CTOL1 Oh a 25 amp one cool
@jettlesschan the electric bill is about 25% lower in the winter months. only about 10% lower in the summer months though, due to the fact that my central ac accounts for for a very large part of the bill and does not run off of the solar system.