I’d bet you thought that you’d have to spend thousands of dollars to go completely off the grid? Even with state sponsored incentives, going all solar could set you back quite a bit. What would you think about going solar, room by room!? There’s a system out there that makes going solar very affordable and you can add to it as you go! No, this won’t take you off the grid in one fell swoop, but it can get you closer to energy independence without breaking the bank!
Now folks, this is a DIY project and if are not handy with electricity, you may want to leave that up to the pros, but with a little help from your professional buds, you can make it happen. Your mother-in-law will think you are a genius! Here’s what they say you will need to get started:
(all costs are stated in approximate figures, and if you hunt around the ‘net or your own backyard, you may find the system will cost you even less)
One Uni-Solar 32-watt amorphous-silicon PV module, 12 volts: $180.00
One Morningstar 6-amp charge controller, 12 volts: $40.00
Two Deka 92 amp-hour sealed batteries, 12 volts: ($130.00 each) $260.00
(get the sealed ones so you don’t have to build a vented housing unit for them)
One Aims 800-watt modified sine wave inverter, 12 volts: $65.00
This is a total of under $600. You can spend extra on wiring, etc or extra batteries. You can never go wrong by having more batteries. Now, I bet you think you’ll only be able to run one compact fluorescent for about 15 minutes, right? Wrong! I was quite surprised to find out that with this set up, a stereo system can run or about 100 hours. (not that you’d want to), a laptop for about 40 hours, (ok, that I CAN probably do in about 3 days), and the ubiquitous compact fluorescent bulb for 80 continuous hours! Frankly, I think that is pretty good!
Expanding the system is quite easy and will provide you with even more power–therefore you can expand your soon-to-be-off the grid system as you can afford it and/or have time. I think my chances of convincing my husband this is a good thing are pretty good!
(photo is not of actual product, but a representative sample of a solar panel)
21 Comments
It’s insane to invert to 120 simply for lights. It would probably be cheaper to lay 24V DC lines and convert things like lights to DC. No inverter losses. Charging control is little more than $10 worth of simple components.
Plus you have to have code inspection and hire a contractor to have a chance of code-aware work (thinking of the mother-in-law case) in most parts to install an inverter. Unless you’re either going to lay your power lines on the floor or advocating violating building and electrical codes. It’s not quite that easy though I wish it were.
Overall you are right that you don’t need to drop $30K just to implement solar. That was what I was quoted to hit 70% power coverage sans washer/dryer/stove/heater in my house here in sunny NorCal a few years ago.
The future is mixed AC/DC with local sharing grids.
so…. you post a few items, but no way to connect everything together, this post is either bragging or useless, you pick which.
What is the efficiency of this PV? How many kWh will it deliver per year in Portland, OR?
I’m sure the batteries will give you 40h of laptop use. Problem is, the recharge time can be measured in days, not hours…
I agree with Mike’s comment above. A parts list is not the same as a DIY how-to. Without knowing how to actually utilize the parts this post is pretty useless other than to say “you can do things in small steps”. To make matters worse, the parts list doesn’t even appear to be up to date. The link to the online store for the PV cells no longer even seems to stock the specified 32w PV modules.
I don’t believe the point of the article is to discuss efficiency or how to build solar power systems. The point is that it is feasible to piece together a system bit by bit, in a way that is simultaneously useful and affordable. I don’t think most people know that that is an option.
Good point about local codes. And, as to Nancy’s good question, perhaps the link to the manufacture’s site may help: http://www.uni-solar.com
As to one comment, I find this post neither bragging or useless. I found it interesting. Constructive criticism of someone’s piece is one thing, but taking personal pot shots at the someone (”you”) just trying to help out all of us interested in things “green” is well — to paraphrase words — “useless.”
This is a useful post in that it does what I’d imagine it was intended to do: inform the reader that one can venture into solar at a low-cost; that converting to solar power is not an all-or-nothing venture. It’s not supposed to be a “how to do” instruction manual.
Bragging? The writer is not saying she installed the system. And, quite frankly, if she (or anyone) does, all the power (pun not intended) to her/them!
I’ve set up a system almost exactly like this for my Uncle who lives in a camper in the woods with no electricity. It works great! He was running a generator every day, but now, with bigger batteries and a solar panel, he only has to run it once a week, which is a big savings on gas.
Thanks, Elizabeth. No, I don’t have the system installed. I’d love to go partially off the grid if just for a few items. I am interested also in the even smaller systems that you can leave in the sun, and then bring them in to plug one’s laptop or fan into. Then, you wouldn’t have to worry about wiring/codes, etc.
Perhaps some other websites would be of value to those who posted comments.
http://www.sierrasolar.com/prod_store/PS_outback.html
http://store.sundancesolar.com/plsoensy.html
http://www.partsonsale.com/products2.html#homekits
I hope this helps. Keep greenin’ up your lives!
Lois
Now, what would be useful, would be if some of the critics got round to posting a howto…
Jeeesus! Call off the dogs will ya? Poor Lois was only trying to give us some food for thought and I for one appreciate her efforts. You want to know how it’s done then stop spending your own energy so in efficiently by tearing her up and put it into some research. Well, what are you waiting for?
I think this is a wonderful idea. Thanks for shareing it with us.
P.S. You don’t need to give every detail or make it perfect for everyone. If you have a good idea, just share it.
Personally, I found this a good read. I live in Western Wa State near Bremerton and face directly South, with a 12-12 pitch roof - 45 degrees at 47 latatude. I have a 12 panel x 190 grid tie system [ i.e. no batteries]. I ‘chose’ no batteries simply because I am not sure of the dirtyness of battery disposal as of 2007 - BUT - this article should steer some folks in a productive direction.
I probably misunderstood the purpose of the article. I thought the article was going to instruct me on how to “Go solar, room by room”. I now see that the article is simply proposing this good idea as a possibility, but isn’t actually trying to explain how to go from idea to reality. (The links provided in the comments help, but not enough for it to be realistic.) Seeing a parts list led me to believe that this was something real and not a thought experiment.
Curt, although the pieces used for uncle’s camper likely are very similar to the pieces quoted in this article, it’s very unlikely that your deployment really fit into the model of what was being proposed by the article. In particular, I doubt that the camper was both utilizing solar power and regular ole grid power at the same time, which seems to be the point of doing a phased approach to a solar deployment.
Don’t this or my prior comment wrong. I’d LOVE to see this be a practical solution, but right now, I am not seeing how I can run my kitchen on solar power and my living room off the grid.
The catch here is it would take 34.5 hours of ideal solar conditions to charge the battery. On average we get 3.2 per day. So 11 days to charge the batteries.
Okay to maintain the batteries on 32W of PV you would be limited to 100Wh per day. That would be about 2 hours for a 50W laptop, not 40hours. That is for New England. Arizona maybe it is 3 hours.
Jeez, Mike, does Lois have to do everything for you? She’s just presenting some ideas as a jumping point/inspiration. As for connecting stuff together, there is no universal recipe — it requires research and contemplation, or you can hire an expert. The real value of the post is in the reports of practical results (run times, etc) and the links to give you ideas of where/how to shop.
Far from bragging or useless, this post is quite informative.
If you can’t figure out how to assemble the PV system from the parts list mentioned, then you’ve got no business attempting it.
PV panel –> Charger –> Battery –> Inverter
That’s the recipe for every simple PV system.
This is a good way to get started. It’s a modular approach instead of a full-fledged system. As you have cash available, you can add additional parts and upgrade the ones you already have. Additional PV panels can be plugged directly into the charger; additional batteries add power capacity; a second inverter can power another room, or a new, larger inverter could power larger appliances.
Even though the 32 watt PV panel is no longer available from that company, other companies probably still have them, or you could go with a larger one.
As far as the code issues: You can either hire the electrician, or (in most places) you can just DIY it properly. If you don’t know the code, either learn it or hire that electrician. This is actually a very simple installation, code-wise. No part of this system should connect to your existing wiring (unless, of course, you disconnect your existing wiring from grid power) It gets a bit more complicated when you try to feed power back through the electric meter, but this system is a LONG way from that one.
” I thought the article was going to instruct me on how to “Go solar, room by room…”
Well, first of all, that is the LEAST cost effective way to do it. By far the most cost effective is a grid tie system that offsets ANY power usage in the house.
The system described above might work for a small backwoods cabin or occaisional use RV, but not much else. It is really poor efficiency and expensive to just convert a couple of lights or something in a house.
Good read!
Even IF going solar piecemeal is “the lease cost effective,” some people may NOT have a chunk of money to do otherwise. Likewise, some who do have enough $, might need/want to use it for purposes other than larger scale conversions to solar. The fact that one can get “into” solar in such a small way — and at such a relative low price — IS the point of the article.
Additionally, economic efficiency is not the sole reason peole convert to solar. People have different motives, along with different sized bank accounts. Helping the environment out — even if the monetary payback isn’t there — might be a main reason for some. Being fully or (in the case of this article) partially energy independent might be another. I’m sure for some folks who’ve experienced a power outage for even just a few hours, let alone a day or so, just a wee bit of energy independence — a few lights and/or a small appliance or two — would have been a godsend.
This is not such a great deal. You have to look at the sustainability of the system. 32W is maximum, without tracking hardware you will never see that. If you average 20W you are probably doing well. For 12 hours a day, this works out to a total of 240Wh of potential work. Big deal. For $600? No thanks.
This is a misleading article.
This would be a good way to get an introduction to solar, but I don’t know that I would recommend all of this expense for 1 35 watt panel. I would also recommend buying higher quality components than bargain basement equipment and slowly trying to build a system. This is an interesting idea though.
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