Im looking at making a solar power system to power my portable devices. I am looking at making my own kit. I know I need a solar panel, a 12v battery, and a power inverter.
Does can the solar panel have a wattage rating of more or less than the inverter and do I need a device to manage the battery’s charge.
I also plan on using it to power some larger devices such as a small non-portable tv.
I still can’t understand why people want to build solar energy projects when there is a much cheaper, and reliable alternative that works 24/7 requires no light and is 100% clean energy.
I want to introduce you to Magnetic Power Generators if you don’t already know what that is. it’s power generated from spinning magnets. I think this would be in my honest opinion more fun for you to build and power your gadgets with, I have one I use for my camping trips, works great to keep my cell phone and laptop fully charged.
By all means build a solar panel since that was your original idea, but if you are low on funds I recommend you give this a shot, you will be amazed when you see those magnets spinning and your gadgets charging 24/7.
inverter? why not get a panel that puts out 12 volts and charge the battery, You will need a device to control the charging. Then get a DC power regulator that send 3, 6, 12 volts to your small devices. The watts from the pV panels cannot be more than your controller can handle.
You can use this guide:
http://www.agua-luna.com/offgrid_guide.html
You just need to scale it .. but it does explain it very simple.
I came to this website and it may or may not help you out, but you should check it out anyways. Lots of info on solar power systems and other cool green living gadgets. http://richard@hvactaxcredit.net
First thing you need to do is figure out how much power your devices use. You can get a Kill-a-Watt meter that will measure the power consumed over a period of time so you can accurately figure out how big of a battery and solar panel you need. http://www.altestore.com/store/Meters-Communications-Site-Analysis/Meters-Battery-Monitors/Power-Meters/P3-International-Kill-A-Watt-P4400-Kill-A-Watt-Power-Meter/p932/
Once you know how much power you need, you can go to a calculator that sizes it for you. http://www.altestore.com/store/calculators/off_grid_calculator/
You will need solar panel(s), a charge controller to manage the power going into the battery, a battery (or batteries), and an inverter to convert from DC to AC if you are plugging in devices that are AC powered (plugged into the wall) like the non-portable TV. You may also need some safety devices like breakers and such.
In general, the inverter is not sized based on the size of the solar panel, it is sized based on the power requirement of the devices plugged into it. For instance, if you are plugging in a 100W TV, you need an inverter that can handle over 100W.
You need a controller and it needs to match the max output of the solar panel.