Solar panels kits

[danristheman]

A few weeks ago are power went out after 24 years of living in this apartment due to an bad ice storm. We didn't have power for 10 to 12 hours. It got me to thinking about solar panels. I was wondering about solar panels that I can put outside to make power so we can something if the power goes out. I want to generate something to keep somethings going in our home. I have seen somethings online just don't know what to get?

 

[Magic Static]

I use battery backups to keep the internet, CCTV and satellite stuff running. We don't have many blackouts here and when we do they are usually a few seconds only. I have only had one blackout that was too long for the backups in the 22 years here.

 

[primestar31]

Dan, you can do that, BUT, you also need to buy deep cycle batteries to have a bank of power. You'll likely spend over a $1,000 total just to get enough power to run a light or two for 10 hours. The batteries will cost a big chunk of money. Also, I wouldn't recommend them being kept inside a closed apartment where you can't vent the gasses created when they are charged.

A $300 generator from Lowes or Home Depot is far more practical. Just do NOT run that inside your apartment! It must be outside, and extension cord through a window or something.

 

[harshness]

Solar systems aren't generally suitable for emergency power. Off-grid systems require lots of panels, an inverter and a number of expensive batteries that must be carefully stored.

A modest internal combustion generator gives much more bang for the buck.

 

[KE4EST]

10-12 hours in 24 years. You will live!

 

[danristheman]

Ok i was just thinking long term if something happened.

 

[danristheman]

I use battery backups to keep the internet, CCTV and satellite stuff running. We don't have many blackouts here and when we do they are usually a few seconds only. I have only had one blackout that was too long for the backups in the 22 years here.

How do you have those setup i would like to have something like that.

 

[Magic Static]

I have two 1500VA APC Computer backups. I plug all the stuff into them. I can monitor them with the PC. This is a screen shot of the PC and satellite backup program.

 

[danristheman]

How much does that it cost Magic?

 

[harshness]

How do you have those setup i would like to have something like that.

What your setup demands is based entirely on your particular situation. It is one thing to keep a few things running but it is something entirely different if you want to run your house as you would normally (refrigerator, freezer, microwave or toaster oven, etc).

You can't reasonably run appliances off of a UPS. The run time of even a high-watt UPS is only a few minutes when running near capacity.

The snake in the grass with UPSes is that they are typically rated much higher than the load they can support. Along with a 1,500VA rating you also see a 900W rating. That's a pretty big gap (and why the load scale in the UPS status screen only goes to 900 Watts).

Using Magic Static's UPS as an example, it will run for about 31 minutes with a 233 watt load but it will likely shut down (and probably not restart) with a 1,000 watt load (a modern microwave or electric pressure cooker). UPSes are designed to keep things running until you have time to shut everything down normally.

If all you need to keep up is a small TV (100w) and a refrigerator (65W), a large UPS would work for perhaps 40 minutes.

A small inverter generator could keep a whole lot of stuff going for hours on a gallon of gasoline and when it ran out, you could add more and be up and running in a couple of minutes rather than waiting for the battery to charge.

I recently ran a phone system and a couple of servers totaling 136W for 13 hours a night on a gallon of gas. Obviously gas consumption goes up with power demand and the buy-in may be around $800 (about five 1,500VA UPSes), but the run time is measured in hours rather than minutes and the "recharge" time is measured in minutes (the time that it takes to fill the tank and restart) rather than hours (the time it takes to charge the battery -- after the power returns).

Another thing to know about UPSes is that they usually won't start unless there's power so if you charge it elsewhere and bring it home, it probably won't turn on.

 

[danristheman]

Well I would like to keep my CCTV system, satellite tv system and the internet running. Just some basic stuff Harshness. I was coming up with some ideas and thoughts. How would I monitor the system could I use an laptop?

 

[harshness]

How would I monitor the system could I use an laptop?

Which technology do you want to monitor?

For a solar system, you usually have to step up to a middle or high-end charge controller to get remote network monitoring.

For a UPS, you need to be connected to the UPS via its communications port (USB or Ethernet). I don't think Ethernet communications is typically available on the LAN but maybe it is. If you pay enough money, the "enterprise" units can be remotely monitored (charge state, load, temperatures, humidity, camera, etc.).

Generators are usually tracked by run time. Some models have a gas gauge but most would run your gear all night on a tank and the run time is independent of the season (assuming that the generator doesn't get swamped).

If you're interested in how much power what you want to run consumes, the cheap Kill-a-Watt units are wildly popular (though not always easy to use).

Any way you go, you'll need to be able to plug them all together into the power source.

 

[danristheman]

I will look towards the ups batteries trying to make a setup out of it. Harshness do you have a backup system?

 

[harshness]

Harshness do you have a backup system?

I use a Yamaha 2000 watt inverter generator for outages lasting more than 20 minutes (during which time I otherwise live without power). I use UPSes primarily to allow me to shut things down gracefully but my modem, router and weather station run for longer periods. I'm tinkering with the idea of using full-time off-grid solar power for my Internet and weather station but a system like that is likely to cost upwards of $600 with an efficient solar charge controller and inverter and batteries to last between charges. The payoff would be pretty long.

The only thing I might need that I can't run off the generator is my well pump. The last time I had a long-term outage (two days), I melted snow on my barbecue grill for drinking and to flush toilets. I haven't bothered with trying to figure out how to keep my gas furnace running as I have a fireplace with a gas log. I have a gas range but the generator could run the microwave if I had to.

 

[danristheman]

I was just worried if something would happen if it was longer than 12 hours something like natural disaster. So we can have somethings that's why I was looking towards solar or wind.

 

[harshness]

I was just worried if something would happen if it was longer than 12 hours something like natural disaster.

For the long term outage, only a internal combustion generator is going to save you unless you're set up to run full-time -- and all-weather -- on renewable energy.

The problem with both solar and wind is that they may not be all that usable if the outage is caused a storm that takes out your power. Windmills often have to be feathered or taken down in high winds and solar panels aren't as effective in the darkest of skies (assuming that they don't blow down).

 

[danristheman]

What i had in mine was when the power goes out sitck some solar panels out on my back porch. Or i could put on my satellite dish pole. That does sound good a Honda generator probably cost a lot.

 

[Magic Static]

You don't have enough space to put out solar panels for temp on demand power source. You need batteries to store enough power for any length of time. A solar setup that can produce the power of a generator will cost many times more than a generator and way more difficult to setup.

 

[. Raine]

Yes, solar would probably be too expensive. As an example, my small array here has two 100w crystalline panels, $100 a piece. A MPPT charge controller, $90. A 100 amp/hr AGM battery, $220. DC breaker + box was around $30. This array charges our phones and miscellaneous devices, runs some lights and I use it as a power supply working on stuff.

Those small kits you see that are like 3 15w amphorous panels won't even run what I just listed and usually don't come with a battery. To run lights too, if AC, then you also need an inverter, which sucks up even more power.

 

[harshness]

What i had in mine was when the power goes out sitck some solar panels out on my back porch.

By the time the power is out, it is much too late (especially if the outage happens in the afternoon or evening). Off-grid solar systems are glorified battery chargers. They maintain the charge in a fairly large set of batteries ($$$$) using energy from the Sun. Without the batteries to absorb starting loads, the panels won't really do much for you. This is why I made it abundantly clear that to run off solar, you need a full-fledged off-grid system running 24/7/365. It isn't a matter of throwing up a couple of modest panels and having all the power you need for as long as you need it.

Slowly charging a wireless phone or small tablet with a 144 square inch panel (about 4-5 watts maybe) is one thing but running all the stuff you want to keep running is orders of magnitude more complex and a lot more expensive.

When you're using an inverter to convert from DC that the panels produce to AC, you have to pretty well hold 13VDC and whatever amperage draw or the inverter will shut down. AC voltages can't fluctuate like DC voltages can before equipment damage ensues.

If you're thinking about a grid-tied solar system, they produce NO power during an outage.

I figure that my Internet and weather station project with a computer was going to require at least a 400W off-grid solar system. Adding my TV would require a system at least half again as large.