No its not like that. I was chatting with a friend last night and he was thinking about doing some solar panels at his camp, for lighting and maybe a little TV and CD player for the grand kids. To run power back he was told it would be 7 to 8 grand and HE had to take responsibility for up keep on the line. And he asked me what I knew and that not much but I figure for about 1500 bucks he could get something that would fill the bill, panels maybe 400 watts, battery bank maybe 4 deep cycles, charge controller and an inverter. And THAT is the limit of my knowledge on solar. SO any of you guys have any experience with a solar set up that might do what he wants. I know he wont run a fridge or anything like that, but maybe a water pump from the spring.
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For what he wants to do I would buy a cheap harbor freight generator and call it a day.
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My old camp up here on the Tug, I had propane lights, heat and Frig. The well I built was 400Watts @12volts for 3 seasons only.
I added an another 400 Watt panel for the cell phone booster when I in there. Winter heat was a wood stove and the propane wall unit.
Used a Honda 1000W
Watt geny for TV and 120 Volt things.
I added an another 400 Watt panel for the cell phone booster when I in there. Winter heat was a wood stove and the propane wall unit.
Used a Honda 1000W
Watt geny for TV and 120 Volt things.
My old camp up here on the Tug, I had propane lights, heat and Frig. The well I built was 400Watts @12volts for 3 seasons only.
I added an another 400 Watt panel for the cell phone booster when I in there. Winter heat was a wood stove and the propane wall unit.
Used a Honda 1000W
Watt geny for TV and 120 Volt things.
I added an another 400 Watt panel for the cell phone booster when I in there. Winter heat was a wood stove and the propane wall unit.
Used a Honda 1000W
Watt geny for TV and 120 Volt things.
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motionclone
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L345DT with Lp mower, forks and grapple thumb, Bobcat 337 Midi Ex
I got 2 sets of HF solar panels (200 watts Total) on top of a camper thats my temporary camp. It charges 3 deep cycle batteries. powers lights, charges cell phones, runs fans, runs the water pump. We only use the camp maybe once a week in the summer and we never have to turn on the generator. I got maybe 300$ plus batteries which were leftovers from a boat I sold.
I have 2 of these kits and they go on sale for $150 occasionally
https://www.harborfreight.com/100-W...ovkxzFPrQ9SWDA0XjOyhbic1bYt2qYlRoC0PAQAvD_BwE
I have 2 of these kits and they go on sale for $150 occasionally
https://www.harborfreight.com/100-W...ovkxzFPrQ9SWDA0XjOyhbic1bYt2qYlRoC0PAQAvD_BwE
I have an off grid setup in my barn. I am no expert by any means but I did a lot of reading and researching before I bought anything. My setup consists of: a Renogy 200W Premium kit, a single Group 27 deep cycle marine/RV battery, and a 2000W pure sine wave inverter. The lights are 12V LED bulbs in standard bulb bases. They are wired using 14-2 Romex to a Square D box with their QO series breakers. The QO breakers are rated for up to 48V DC where most others are only rated for AC. There are different types of charge controllers. The MPPT chargers are more expensive but more efficient than the PWM chargers.
I also have a generator for higher demands.
I also have a generator for higher demands.
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I run a 12 volt demand pump to pressurize my water system in the small garage.
20 watt on a lawn tractor battery. Have no issue with that.
400 watts should be plenty,just dont go too big on battery bank. Led lights and an efficient invertor. 12 volt lighting, and 12 volt adapters for phone/ipad chargers.
20 watt on a lawn tractor battery. Have no issue with that.
400 watts should be plenty,just dont go too big on battery bank. Led lights and an efficient invertor. 12 volt lighting, and 12 volt adapters for phone/ipad chargers.
OK if I may ask, what are the units you use? you know inverter controller panels and so on/ I have been doing some research on line and it doesnt look to hard to set up but the equipment cost is all over the board
One thing to keep in mind with any solar setup is, solar panels have a definite lifespan. Typically solar panels degrade 2% in total output per year so with a commercial installation, productive lifespan is 20 years. For a residential setup that may not matter but the panels will still degrade in output.
I consider them as well for our hunting camp but went instead with a small (2000 watt) Inverter generator. I bought a Champion. Was around 400 bucks, lots cheaper than solar panels and I use it around the farm as well.
The other thing to keep in mind is, if the sun don't shine (cloudy), they produce no juice or if the location is wooded, no juice either.
Our place is in a hardwood forest so the canopy diffuses the sunlight and diffused sunlight don't make good solar power either.
I consider them as well for our hunting camp but went instead with a small (2000 watt) Inverter generator. I bought a Champion. Was around 400 bucks, lots cheaper than solar panels and I use it around the farm as well.
The other thing to keep in mind is, if the sun don't shine (cloudy), they produce no juice or if the location is wooded, no juice either.
Our place is in a hardwood forest so the canopy diffuses the sunlight and diffused sunlight don't make good solar power either.
I bought an eco worthy 800 watt kit from amazon for my pole barn and have had good luck with it. it came with an inverter and everything needed except wire. I added 4- 6volt agm golf cart batteries. it was $1200 plus the cost of the batteries
My camp is off grid, we have a small solar panel with a two battery bank, charge controller and a 2000 watt invertor, we run several leds lights with it and actually use the invertor very little, our main lights are propane, with a propane fridge and stove. I have a 4000 watt generator for running the well pump as needed, we have two pressure tanks plumbed in together and can go a couple of days without running the generator when we do it’s only for 10 or so minutes to fill the water tanks, for our water needs we have an earth straw in the well caseing. LEDs are very efficient, the only reason we have a generator is to run the well pump, my solar panel is going on 20 years now and still works great, there are several types of panels out there