What Can You Run On A Single Solar Panel?
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- čas přidán 5. 07. 2023
- Calculate Solar Panel Cost For Your Home - www.solarreviews.com/solar-es...
Use code EFPDFREPAIRS to get an extra 5% off all deals on EcoFlow portable power stations
(Except flash sale products).
Ecoflow Website: bit.ly/46j6O19
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For most homeowners, we really don't have any reference on what a single solar panel could power around the house. I will use a 100W panel and an EcoFlow Delta Pro to demonstrate how to design a system and account for common appliances around the house to ensure the energy coming in is matching or exceeding the energy going out.
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. - Jak na to + styl
My Favorite Solar Panel Cost Estimator - www.solarreviews.com/solar-estimator?aff=66965&cam=713
Have you seen those usb powered light bulbs. They will blow you away. They function just like a real light bulb.
No way Jose! I am not giving these people all this information. The last time I used one of these sites my email filled up with SPAM, plus the solar panel companies hounded the hell out of me. An honest site would not be mining for all this information, and if they claim they need it to make a legitimate estimate they are spewing bullshit! Unfortunately, I started giing them information, so I expect the gates of hell have been opened.
One of the companies I priced for Solar panels was $65,000 for my home, It would take me 36 years to pay for that at the cost of what I pay for my light bill now.
@@docbrown6550 I had the same sort of experience. The high-pressure salesmen present these rosy calculations showing how you supposedly save all this money each month and how the cost of the solar panels will be recovered in just a few years. The average person will hear this BS and be convinced the investment is worthwhile, then the bills start to roll in and surprise it was all a lie.
My advice to everyone is to avoid these so-called solar panel calculators because they require you to provide them with a phone number or an e-mail address which will result in endless SPAM and annoying phone calls. Sorry everydayhomerepairs, but these sites are scams designed to mine information for high pressure salesmen.
I just wanna run my tv when there's a blackout too piss the neighbours off
This is my new goal 😂
😂😂😂😂
I have a massive fish room. Even running a handful o led lights 10hrs a day would be great
I do, as well as lights and a deep freezer or small washer. And I act like oh ,the powers off?
@@loriekaczmarek9788 why not
About 7 years ago I used a Harbor Freight $200 solar kit to help build a cabin out in the woods. I charged hand tools and kept a radio going. I used a little $30 inverter. Never had temporary power turned on.
I built a solar generator using a harbor freight setup. 2 deep cycle batteries with a smaller car battery hooked parallel with the basic 30 amp charge controller and a 2500 watt inverter. I can run my small RV shore power line for 3 days (sparingly). It runs a small fridge and microwave as well as the AC unit (not for long but enough to keep it comfy). That being said because I can only charge at 100 watts it takes a week or more to bring the batteries back to full charge.
I thought that was me talking I've gone two weeks of lighting and television and computers and phone charging with two humongous marine batteries and a 2000 watt bee stack inverter
And to charge this I use three solar panels because that's all I have. Two solar panels use one controller one of my panels use one controller. Then to my 12 volt batteries into the inverter.. but I've always messed with this stuff and I am an electrician so I know what I am doing
@@user-uu8uk5oo4o I started in the trades doing electrical work with my father. After high school I worked for a commercial outfit doing 3phase work and a lot of control wiring. I know by adding more panels I could recover power faster but I built it all to be mobile. Everything is mounted inside of a weatherproof cart with the panels mounted on the lid. The lid is at a 37 degree angle and I can pull the cart around the yard to gain more sunlight as well as having power wherever I want it.
@@mattdg1981 hey Matt, can I ask you a little more about your setup? I'm looking into a 100 watt panel just for ac and phone. I live in my SUV most of the time and Just want it to be cool enough to be comfortable during the day.
For coffee, you can get an insulated carafe for many coffee makers. Brew the coffee as normal and then turn off the coffee pot. The coffee will stay hot for a couple of hours, saves electricity, and will actually taste better if it hasn't been cooking on that heating element. You can also just dump it into a thermos. Should save you 90% of the electricity vs leaving it on for an hour. Great video, very practical information here.
Good advice and thanks for the feedback!
Yes, we have a Mr. Coffee with 10 cup carafe, and I've found the coffee to still be hot three hours later.
@@MikeKeller that's the same one I have. When my old coffee maker broke I bought another one the same size so my insulated carafe would still fit.
Good idea; I usually boil up some water the first thing and put the hot water in a carafe; that way the pour-over coffee drinkers ( selfish cup) are happy; the tea drinkers are happy and the hot chocolate drinkers are happy.
Vacuum insulated carafes and cups are also excellent for brewing many types of delicate root type herbals teas like ginger, burdock, dandelion, dock and many more. Try a bag of Yogi detox tea brewed in a vacuum insulated thermal cup, preferable preheated with a bit of the steam from the tea kettle, left to steep for 1.5 to 2 hours. It's an amazing strong cup of tea. The only way to brew it. It should say on the package. Vacuum insulated carafes are wonderful!
Excellent post Scott, I currently have a Jackery 300 watt and 500 watt generators each powered by 100 watt solar panels that I use on my sailboat which is on a mooring. They run my 12 volt tv and fans in addition to charging drone batteries, and iPhone and iPads. In addition to running the boat engine to keep house batteries charged up (rarely) I have a gas Honda generator for same purpose. Eventually I’d like to build a bigger solar system that would have 2 solar panels on my Bimini that would charge my house batteries and allow me to keep the refrigerator cold without running boat engine or Honda. Thanks, greetings from Chesapeake Bay.
Ummm, that sounds like a pretty awesome project 👍👍
1-10 how do you rate living off grid? I’m thinking about it.
The 500w battery can run a dorm fridge for 24 hours per charge. A DC fridge would be more efficient though. Boats need special fridges though, right?
I just got a 100 w panel (brand is LMenger) that has a usb and usb-c connector. It's my first step into solar. I LOVE it: can charge my phone (much faster than wall outlet), iPod, portable speaker, and two-way radio! I have nothing else - no batt, controller, etc. But - full disclosure - I *do* live in Arizona! :)
I have about 12 of the solar panels with USB ports ranging from 15 watts to 120. You can use extension cables to run inside for "free" power for an Onite LED light bulb and a three speed USB fan. I got mine for hurricanes before eventually getting more and more solar stuff until I could even run a small air conditioner in my camper. Thank God for the stimulus! I`m poor and on Social Security disability and the stimulus made my dream of having emergency solar power come true!
I always use the equation of 2 to 1. So if I have a 100AH battery preferably Lithium LiPo4 I need a minimum of 200 watts of solar to charge the battery. If you can afford more panels get them as long as your solar controller can handle that voltage or find out how many volts your solar power station will accept. Because solar panels don't produce what they say on them it doesn't hurt to go over by about 20-30% of what's rated on the panel. Make your coffee on a propane stove.
I have 360w of panels and never get more than 260w from them. Mine are connected to 5 lead acid cells with a total capacity of about 450Ah - and a grid - tie inverter that I connect in summer to 300w of panels leaving the 60w to keep the batteries topped up....just waiting for my first power-cut now, to prove to the wife it was worth the cost of buying a garden shed to install it all in now :)
@@occamraiserI look forward to an update about your results..legit
No bs..just neutral unfiltered truth. 🙂
@@occamraiser Yeah it quickly becomes a pain where your 360w panels get you 260w, then you got inverter and wiring inefficiencies. Lucky to get 200 watts after that. Then lead acid is a joke compared to lifepo. You can only pull 50% out of lead acid.
Can someone give me a general idea how much power a controller would use from the grid to recharge batteries at night versus using solar to charge the batteries during the day? I'm trying to come up with a design for a mini system where the wattage demand is about five thousand watt Peak during the day and only 1000 Watts at night using 4 100 amp hour lifepo4 batteries. I figure it's cheaper for a controller to charge them overnight. To give you an idea according to my electric company 950KW was my maximum usage month in any given month last year. (Summer) That's basically a 220 air conditioner at 1500w and a 900 watt window ac for a bedroom, and then your basics of a refrigerator, a small chest freezer, )2) 55 inch LED TVs and all LED light bulbs. This obviously takes in consideration two TVs or only on three or four hours a day and the 220ac is only running till 6 p.m. I am in Maryland and I have full sun no trees around my house from 8 a.m. until about 2 p.m. then the Sun starts to go down on the front side of my house
@@mrobvious1100 I think a good rule of thump would be your power company cost plus 25% to charge your batteries. That would estimate the battery / inverter conversion inefficiency plus some other losses like wiring. Put simply if you want to save money try to use less power, like how they have those ultra efficient window air conditioners now that are more like heat pumps.
Thank you for such a clear explanation of power consumption. I've just moved to Mexico and the power goes out quite often so I'm going to set up a small system on my sunny balcony. The 100w panel test was very useful for me to see what I might need.
I’m glad I found you on uTube. I’m in the really early stages of info gathering, to set up a makeshift pontoon houseboat, all DIY, to head into the Voyager’s National Park for weeks, possibly months at a time, by being self sufficient off the grid. You really seem to have mastered the mystery of solar panels, that could really be instrumental in my plans. I hope to utilize your knowledge in the future, when I’m ready to attack this project. Again, i’m glad to have found your site…
Great educational video. Love the math behind it...very helpful.
Scott, I have been listening videos on CZcams to learn about solar systems but yours are the most educational ones I have found for me. Thank you. How could I get in touch?
Great video and exactly what I was looking for
To be straight forward and honest, for camping, outdoors recreation, sure grab yourself a solar generator unit, they are good in that capacity, for a few lights in your tent, a radio perhaps, charging your phone, powering your tv or laptop a cordless drill battery. However in a home or survival shelter or going off grid, i would encourage ppl to just get a full system. Such as a panel, a charge command a battery and a power inverter. This way you can isolate what is wrong if ever a problem. Because like anything, its going to require regular service. Such as the command unit may go out, you simply replace it not needing to open the box, most of those generators simply are not user servicable. For the price you pay because they have litium battery, is outrageous. 600 USD for the one here its a very small AH watt hour battery. For people who are on a budget, I will give you an example of my set up
It was easy, i paid less than 350USD for a 100w with a 12v 100ah RV battery, with solar panel directed to the sun angled to be the most efficent. I found an app on godggle play which tells me exactly where the sun is year round, sun tracking. For hard wiring your RV, Off Grid shed/cabin, think RV set up. You can get a 100w Solar panel kit from Amazon, which comes with a panel, mounting, 25ft of cable and a charge controller for 89.00USD, I purchased a 750W Jupiter modified sine wav power inverter, which I mounted on a 2x2ft piece of plywood. I then bought a 12v deep cycle RV battery, not a car battery, the two are made differently, an RV battery is specically designed to be charged by a generator or charger or solar charge , it doesnt have the power kick a car battery does for starting a motor then recharge from a alternator.
Its specifically designed to operate the lights, appliances, tvs in a RV camper. Most sold are sealed where as a car battery is not and car batteries off gas which can make you really sick, a sealed battery you can keep inside like under a counter. Deep cycle means it can go lower than 50% , mine have gone down to 75% depleated and its fine, it recharges back great, no battery damage. The price of an deep cycle rv battery is 129 then a core. I started with one battery and my solar setup. Its been over 5 years and its still going really good. litium batteries are extremely exspensive, they have many pros also, but again many people having to resort to alternative living situations probably dont have a 1000usd on hand to buy one single litium rv battery, yes one thousand doallrs or more per battery.
Not letting people know the alternatives of powering a make shift shelter considering that most people look in to solar might be searching for ways to reduce costs or being off the grid. A more solid system with reliable batteries and cost efficient, if the battery is small in that solar generator it can olny operate for so long and has to be constantly recharging, yet a 100ah if keeping minimal lights and appliance going , a fan and a several lights, the battery can go three days, just like a camper.
And the best suggestion ive ever seen about alternatives , learn to live needing less power, be frugal. Most of the stuff we use , we dont really need to live a good wholesome life. We have been so brain washed into giving our money to utility companies about things we really dont need. So to change your life and go solar , so also change your life so that you arent so dependant upon. Its nice ambience to live 1800s with soft lantern light , peaceful, relaxing, comforting. I have 1000 lumen LED lights outside , but not a lick of electric battery, all solar, solar yard lights, solar decrative lights. Learning how to go entirely solar is fu, but can be very inexspensive. Im not trying to say bad about this video , i just know that there hundreds uopon hundreds of people going homeless , they cant afford 2-3-4 thousand dollar gadgets, We need more youtubers making videos about how these unfortanate can get power for their shack or tents. As humans we should be sticking for our fellow citezens, not sticking up for the companies over charging for profit.
A 100ah 12v LiFeP04 battery rated at 2000 to 5000 charge cycles before losing 20% capacity is about 230 bucks right now. A 200ah version is 500 bucks. These can be fully discharged and are safer than regular lithium ion and last far longer. My 300ah Ampere Time runs my small air conditioner and has a 5 year warranty and is rated at 4000 full charge/discharge cycles. If cared for properly it can get way more cycles and is good for 12 to 20 years.
Great useful advice. I'm learning about solar hoping to have a modest setup down the road. The power station in the video looks handy but when I saw the price I about spit out my coffee.
Thank you very much for this informative comment. I am currently trying to put together a plan for a simple but somewhat decent set up for a small cabin. Id really rather not spend a ton of money if I can get away with a different option. I am going to look further into what you were mentioning with the RV deep cycle battery. Do you have any other resources you'd recommend for reading more about the kind of solar system you have? Thank you again!
Good video. Funny thing is we're talking about emergency power solutions and commenters are wondering how much coffee they can brew on a full charge on a system that costs 1000s. Two words...sun tea...and wait for the power to come back on. Granted a coffee pot is a high wattage item and can easily be used for testing. But it's basically luxury camping until the power issue is fixed. I'm playing with 2-100 watt panels, a 2500 watt inverter, MPPT controller, and a 12v 100AH LiFePo battery...but just for fun and running a furnace or frig, and maybe campgrounds on vaca. Keep the numbers coming.
Great video, thanks for the great info. Looking at building a solar charge shed for all the lawn equipment. Oh, if you use a thermos type coffee pot then it only has to heat the water once. :)
Great tip on coffee pot, that would make a massive difference. 👍
Thank you SO much for putting this together. I really needed this education.
I was looking at a Bluetti solar generator, only 260wH. It makes more sense from a flexibility perspective to plug the few solar panels on my list into an inverter and charge the device off of that than plugging the solar panels in directly.
Excellent educative program,it's very useful to every home.
Great information in helping me in my purchase and installation of my 2 new solar panels
Very informative ! Thanks for the links in the post.
It's useful to have a charger, digital signal processor, and a shunt with the solar panel run online with a small storage cell.
SJ research achieved this over the last decade.
Real Eye Opener....Thanks !
Very well explained educational video. U just earned a new subscriber.
Thank you for posting this informative solar post, thumbs up and I subscribed, cheers !
Welcome to the channel!
Thanks for the info!
Very helpful content! Thank you!
Both my Mr. Coffee and Ninka coffee makers use 1050 watts for 10 minutes while brewing 10 to 12 cup Potts, then they drop to 0 watts until the hot plate cools down and it kicks back on for 30 seconds at 100 watts. That time interval can be between 8 and 10 minutes depending upon the ambient temperature in the kitchen affecting the cool down of the pot.
Very well explained. Thank you for making this video.
You bet!
When the panels are installed on a standard shingle roof those shingles are altered by walking on them. The aggregate (stone) is removed which is the protection of the shingle itself shortening the lifespan of the shingles. Not to mention and install defect that can cause a leak in your roof. Will the solar panel installers dispute the install warranty and claim it was the shingle installers that caused a roof leak, or even blame it on the shingle manufactures. I see a potential mess of problems that could happen with the cost of repair being put on the homeowner canceling out any posible savings from having solar panels
When the roof needs to be replaced who and how are the panels going to be replaced and reinstalled, drilling more holes in a roof, creating more potential leak locations
Very informative about producing and consumption of solar energy with the mitigation of a battery
I have net metering and 2 powerwalls. The powerwalls are soley used as backup power. Nothing better than being the only house on my street w/ power during and outage
I have 4 100watt solar panel from Eco flow and I used them to charge my delta batters . I have two batteries packs . On a sunny day I get around 290 watts -303 watts . Not to bad .
Great Video - thank you so much.
You bet, thanks for the support 👍
on a single 100-watt solar panel, you could run a low power car stereo and a small form factor computer and monitor. Considering the usb ports on the PC and many car stereos, you can add in a cellular phone. After these, you can determine the left over electricity and calculate how many RV LED lights you might be able to add. This could turn a man cave or she shed into a pleasant entertainment escape when everyone else in the house wants to watch TV.
The utility is not a battery. It's a sink for excess power. Non battery systems either don't provide any backup power, or only when the sun is shining. Most solar installation companies don't tell people this. I've had several people tell me they had no idea their grid tied system wouldn't work during any outage. They said that part wasn't explained.
Some insurance companies in Florida will drop you if you install solar panels on your roof. They claim it compromises the integrity of the roof.
It does,my boss has them .
Major headache after two years
@@Kibatsume1 Probably because the roof was never designed for solar in the first place. you just can not stick these things anywhere as each site is a custom instulation.
I wish I could have you come out to my place. I would set up one or 2 panels in my yard. I would love to use it for my instant pot and phone chargers.
I have a whole house that runs on a car battery. I have refrigeration, hot water, dishwasher, large clothes washer and a device to keep me alive. Amazing what you can do with a purpose designed system and proper engineering vs a dumb all in one box.
Would you be willing to send me info on your set up? I am so confused between panels, inverters and AGM batteries needed. I just want to run a TV, and basically the type of appliances you've menioned. Thank you in advance!
After discharging my Bluetti AC30 fully, I connected it to a HQST 100 watt solar panel that I put on the roof of my screened in room. I have an in-line meter that measures watt-hours installed between the panel and the solar generator. I connected these together at around 8 AM and by evening I had only charged 176 watt-hours into the 300WH unit. That is because the day was mostly cloudy and we had a thunderstorm in the afternoon. I have conducted these tests before. In March of 2021 when the days are shorter, but sunnier, one 100 watt solar panel would produce enough electricity to charge the solar generator before the sun went down. Two 100 watt panels in parallel would charge it in half that time.
I also have an Ecoflow Delta 1300 solar generator which will handle 400 watts of solar. On a mostly sunny day 4 panels will charge it completely.
My whole purpose for buying this stuff is preparation for a hurricane. I live in South Florida. The Ecoflow will run my refrigerator which uses 1100WH a day. Of course there is no way that I can keep that refrigerator running on solar. Knowing this I bought a 3500 peak watt inverter generator on Amazon. I figure that I can charge the solar generators a couple times a day with it plus microwave, run the coffeemaker, etc. on a gallon of gas per day. Solar will supplement the power created by the generator, not vice versa.
Parallel panels and 200w mono panels are very useful for cloudy days. I can sometimes get 30 to 40 watts into my portable power stations when it`s cloudy. If you`re using a 500w power station for an Onite LED light, cooking rice a few times per week, or breakfast with a 350w Dash griddle the cloudy days won`t matter much.
Obviously your assessment is correct however one wouldn't be charging/using everything at once. I try to prioritize my use of solar e.g I use the washing machine during the day so that the batteries have some time to recharge assuming it's sunny. I also use a microwave 800 watts, to boil a cup of water as this will exclusively use the battery rather than part grid and part battery when using a kettle. Something to do with the load/ discharge on the battery even though it's rated at 3.2 Kw.
I'm currently expanding my solar energy system to include:
4 - 36v, 260w Monocrystalline panels mfg by Canadian Solar I bought the used. The angle of the panels are 34 degrees which matches my latitude. These are wired parallel for a maximum of 1040 watts.
Epever 40A 100v 12v -24v output charge controller
I 200AH 24v lithium battery
3000 watt pure sign wave 24v/120v inverter.
I power a small chest freezer, refrigerator, an evaporative cooler (only for a few hours at a time).
I live in an area where the power company can shut off my power for up to 5 days in the event of high fire danger weather. This is a back up system for when they cut my power. I live in the Mojave desert where we get the most sunlight in the nation.
I enjoyed your video.
Nice work on the used panels. I think used panels can be a GREAT value. Where did you get yours?
@@EverydayHomeRepairs I bought them from a gentleman who was upgrading his system because he bought a second Tesla car and needed more power to charge two cars! I paid $70.00 each for four panels. They are top of the line Canadian Solar Company panels. It is unbelievable how good they work on cloudy days.
Net metering - may end in your area. Once a power company obtains enough solar contracts with home owners to totally fill their demand; they no longer want to compensate for extra power they can't sell. This is already happening in the SW where they have a lot of solar; you can't any longer get net metering -so even if you can get it now - you may not be able to in the future depending on your local areas power needs.
Many Thanks!
Four points I want to make. (Sorry I didn't read all 246+ other comments so I may be duplicating what others wrote.)
1. I see the list at 11:34 of Watt·hours and it's tempting to add it up. But one must consider *how often* you use each device/tool. For example, maybe you need to charge your iPhone 2X per day, but the laptop only once per week. Also, maybe you need 2 pots of coffee per day? Maybe you only drink coffee on cloudy days. (People likely use more lights on cloudy days.)
2. Having a charge controller+battery with 3600 Wh capacity seems handy. So usage could fluctuate wildly. As long as over a period of (say) ten days, your battery stays 'topped off' then you are fine. But if you find it is constantly hitting zero, then you need to add more solar panels. Perhaps if the household is "smart", i.e. "today is laundry day, so no coffee" etc. then you can survive with fewer panels or a smaller battery.
3. Seems like the panel can produce up to 100W. I'd be tempted to use a mirror or reflective metal (mylar?) to get more light on the panel(s), so they are maxed out. Also, that would allow it to be over that minimum 11V more often, possibly adding *hours* to the daily collection.
4. Why only 4.6h per day? That number is just "peak" or "optimal" sun values. In reality, I think you'd get more than that per day. Have you really found that number to average out correctly? (I live in Phoenix, AZ so our number is higher!)
What do you use your laptop for if you only need it to charge once per week?
I have 2500 grid tie power and am now working on 1500 watt starting with a 24 volt 300AH battery to help run my house.
Wonderful video, thank you so much.🥰
You bet 👍
Informative video. Thank you
Outstanding informational video. Thank you.
Thanks!
Super helpful. Thanks. 🇨🇦
I home built a solar system that supplies 1/3 of my energy use. I built a 7S battery using 18650 cells (3.3KWhr). I bought 20 used solar panels from Santan Solar for $1300 shipped.
$278 for an Epever Tracer 6415AN MPPT charge controller, $215 for a 400 watt pure sign wave inverter from e-trailer. Total cost around $2300 US.
My system has been running reliably for 1 1/2 years, using only 4 of the solar panels purchased. Plans are to get 100% solar powered and get those other solar panels into service.
It was a lot easier than I had imagined. There are many approaches to using solar.
I’m trying to put solar panels on my 2022 Jeep Gladiator Diesel Engine with Eco Generator also thinking about putting extra batteries in the bed. Could use ideas and advice.
Nice educational video. Thank you. What's the formula for determining the WH for components/equipment that requires charging?
I converted ceiling fans to 120v ac generators. ~5A each
I have 2 solar panels charging up 2 100ah batteries
I connected some small 12v motors to drive the generators at speed ~0.2A
It runs the furnace pump, sump pump, fridge, and a designated light circuit around my house.
Good video. Subbed.
I have two 230 watt 15 amp panels . 60 amp charge controller. One 200 ah. Lithium ion battery. 600 watt pure sine wave inverter. 12 volt system. 10 years ago it cost me around $1, 900. 124 months later, still good to go. 12 volt fridge freezer, LED lights and the occasional charge of my phone and my wi-fi speaker is all I need. It's a small cabin on a lot in Southern Colorado with a beautiful view. so far it's a little under $19 a month "utility bill" for my initial cost.
Nice, that's awesome. I'm jealous as I would love to have a small cabin where I could unplug for a bit with the family.
I like your Xtreme Garage shelving. Wish it was still available.
Hi there i love your knowledge on this subject.
Please can you help me .
I live in a flat ground floor back yard lit up with plenty of sun.
I want to run my kids x box and a 28inch tv on a solar kit .
Which kit is best for me please .
Many thanks Mike from Uk
great info, thank you
You bet!
Nice information uncle
Appreciate the video. But folks can we stop stressing charging phones & laptops. How about a light or wifi. How long would these last?
I remember about 2 decades ago, we started to became hyper aware of the energy consumption of everything in the house, overtime as we replaced things, we started to lower the energy use whiles not changing our lifestyle, in fact, we use a lot more tech gadgets and computers now then we did back then, and yet with all that, we manage to halve our entire house power consumption, whiles not changing our lifestyle, and in fact, enhancing it with more tech stuff.
It goes to show that if you become a lot more aware of what you buy, you can lower your energy use a lot without downgrading your lifestyle and reducing it in half is a massive saving on the bill then it would be if we didn't do any of that.
Today it's easier for consumers, because by law in many countries, there are energy labels on products, that's putting pressure on companies to do better, especially in the EU, that's lowering the energy use of a lot of products, without losing anything.
I do an Apollo 13 energy audit every time we lose power in NorCal. We never know if it will be out for 3 minutes or 3 days. The house used to use 28 kilowatt hours a day. We are down to 8 to 10 kilowatt hours a day using applied cleverness. The 2 garage chest freezers and a fridge run on solar/inverter/batteries, been 2+ years non stop. The battery state of charge gets a little iffy in November through February thanks to low sun angle and trees. In the summer, I see 100% charge by 1PM.
Thanks for breaking things down. It helps a lot
In my summer cabin I did a system where I have 6x280W panels, 5kVA inverter/MPPT. 14x12V 100 Ah batteries (16.8 kWh).
In the winter I also run a generator to top up the batteries Not a bad system. Heating, even with that capacity can be a bit tricky when it is say -20 c....
Cost me little under 1000€ for the whole system
In the USA, 14 - 12 VOLT BATTERIES COST $2800 all by themselves.That doesn't count the costs for panels, wire, fittings, charge controller, or the inverter You can't do that system for $1,000 in the USA.
@@denisewilson8367 yup. I just happened to be in a right place at the right time. Ironic that the batteries came from a nuclear power plant....
@@denisewilson8367 Yup. As they would here.
But i just happened to work in a Power Plant, from where i got the batteries for free (annual change of backup systems).
I also worked in a company that sold solar panels so i got them for half the price. So not a fair comparison pricewise 🙂
Depends on your goals.
Saving $ with roof full of panels. That’s a long term project with minimal savings until 6-10 years. Gets complicated if you sell your house. Will not power your house if the grid goes down without expensive batteries.
Living off grid when grid power is not available. Expensive, but sometimes necessary.
Small system that will power your freezer/refrigerator, lights and fans in the event of a power outage for as long as you have sunshine. Saving a large freezer full of food may be worth the investment. Could make camping more enjoyable.
Maybe all you need is to keep your phone charged when the grid is down.
The angle calculator gives the average angle for the daytime period. You set panel angle and then you can walk away. If you want the ideal angle at the time, the panels should be perpindicular (90 degrees) to the direction to the sun. Of course, if you do this, youneed to constantly adjust the angle of the sun changes.
What kit would I need to power a 1355w portable ac unit for about 8 hours?
Here in California...insurance companies will not cover your roof damages from solar panels screwed into roof. Apparently people are not getting on the roof and making sure those screwed areas are sealed
I have a barn/garage going up and I want to power it with solar. Electric outlets, lights, three garage door openers. The panels are going on mounts on the ground. It has lifetime shingles and I do not want to void the warranty.
very goog tutorial, power in = green, power out = red
Hey, I just got 8 used Solarex MSX60 solar panels for $25! They're pretty old but still functioning. I have a hillside with a shed and parking area that I'd like to power up. Can you direct me to a video on how to do that? All the wires are just cut so I guess that's where I'd start. Thanks
Thank you for this video, I try to prepare for Gulf summer storms and have watched countless videos on this topic, and really have not truly tested my power stations and solar panels. In all the videos I've seen, I have never...ever...once seen the angle of the panel mentioned. May I please suggest a more "hands on" and less geometry supplement to this video? Who knew this was a thing!? As were told just a mild to medium direct hit by a hurricane could possibly knock out our power grid out for up to a month, this would be greatly appreciated.
Rig a stick on your panel, perpendicular to your panel surface. Keep it pointing at the sun. It is dead on when it casts no shadow. The angle of altitude (up from ground) is constant, but you will have to rotate the panel horizontally for maximum output. If you want to move the panel less often, "lead" the sun, pointing ahead on its path, so the sun move toward the focus before moving past it.
I currently run my house on ~ 3.2 kw of solar panels , ( 8 x 410w ) & 7.2 kwh of LFP batteries via a 3.6kw hybrid inverter . Setup cost me about £3500 . Payback will be around 30 months i think , maybe less .
With an AC unit?
Very good , Thank you 🙏🙋♂️
You bet!
So I live in the suburbs. Where can I place my solar panel ? Is the wire from the solar panel to the inside unit a special extension that is easily available?. Thanks, and appreciate this informative video
*The average home needs about 40 X 100 W panels (4000 WATTS) to break even on their electric bill.*
I'm looking at adding some panels to my house. I'm looking at more information to see if it is a good idea. Just checking out videos at the moment
STARTING VS. RUNNING WATTAGE
Some appliances require extra power to start up, while others maintain the same power requirements constantly.
To calculate your power needs correctly, you need to know which kind of load you are dealing with. (A load is defined as the device that you are powering.) There are two kinds of loads:
RESISTIVE LOADS
Resistive loads are pretty simple: they require the same amount of power to both start and run the equipment. Many resistive loads are involved in heating or making heat of some kind. Examples of resistive loads include:
Light bulbs
Coffee maker
Toaster
REACTIVE LOADS
Reactive loads contain an electric motor, which requires additional power to start, but significantly less power to run once it gets going. Typically starting power is 3 times the amount of power to run the application. Examples of reactive loads include:
Refrigerators / freezers
Furnace fans
Well pumps
Air conditioners
Bench grinders
Air compressors
Power tools
Some household appliances, like a furnace or refrigerator, have internal fans that come on intermittently. Extra wattage/power is needed to start the fan each time. Refrigerators also have a defrost cycle that requires power in addition to the compressor and fans.
Reactive loads may also require additional power when the electric motor begins to work. For example, when a saw begins cutting wood, its power requirement will increase. This is not applicable for most household appliances.
Under optimum conditions, I get 5.5 A of charging current for my hundred amp hour battery. That’s using a 10 amp mppt controller
Whatever wattage the panel maker CLAIMS, divide by 2 and that is what you can reasonably expect.
So you get 50 usable watts on a 100 watt panel.
That accounts for cloudy days and operating temperature as well as sun angle.
Anything above that is a bonus.
The last time I was charging my phone, my battery pack showed 6w. Did two full charges, and the battery hasn't lost a single percent yet. I'm actually surprised your phone is 4 times hungrier.
Can you make one video for the 400w solar panel pls, exsamble what we can use with that.. thanks
to be really independent off grid you would also need a water maker desalination system then you could stay at the ocean for a really long time...
Its best to try and run things directly from the panel itself. Next is charging battery's to run things directly at night. What I would like to do is be able to directly charge say drill batteries, power a laptop etc with out a wasteful inverter. For a laptop I guess you would need a 24vdc system then a regulator to power a laptop, if its a 19vdc laptop.
Nice explanation
Good timing. I've been thinking about getting a two person inflatable hot tub. would one panel be enough? This would be the only use for it.
For the heater and pump? Doubtful
Love your approach to teaching... My question would be do the batteries HAVE to be lithium? I removed some AGM beasts (1100cca) from my boat, and they're still rock solid.. Could I use them as a source to store energy, while simply trying to light up a shed located deep on my property?
I had cell tower AGM batteries for years as home backup. For lighting, especially LED bulbs, the AGM's will work fine. The AGM and lead acid batteries fall down when using big loads like when running a microwave oven, big Instapot, air fryer, or a very small AC window unit. The voltage drops off drastically and never recovers. My whole house automatic battery backup 12 volt LED lighting is still AGM powered using a pair of 220 amp hour batteries 135 pounds each. They work great. With all 6 circuits on, it draws 1.5 amps. That will run for days. A Marinco 10 amp boat Smart charger keeps them charged up for worry free reliability.
For your shed, could get away with 100-300 watts in used solar panels and a small MPPT solar charge controller like a Renogy 30 amp unit, set for AGM batteries. I like their $89 battery meter which shows everything on one screen. Its like a gas gauge for your batteries. You can see if the system is charging or discharging from 30 feet away, too. A 1000 watt pure sine inverter can keep your garden tools charged without breaking the budget,.
In 2017 I started building small battery backup units using lithium batteries. They are like a night and day difference, so much better than lead acid batteries, half the weight, twice the power. They recover nicely after very heavy loads, recharge faster, take up less space, have 10 times the lifespan. They are getting cheaper as well. Good luck!
FYI, I have a SunGoldPower 3000w 12v inverter which powers an Apple router, a Spectrum wi-fi modem, an Alexa device, and a ghost draw from a little-used TV. It uses about 70w per hour. My 4 X 100ah LiFePo4 batteries use about 1/4 of the total battery power per day in cloudy, rainy weather, pulling in negligible power. (Location: Central Maine, March 2024. First week testing.) Basically, one battery per day of power being used, so, 4 days without solar to recharge. Haven't been able to test with sunshine yet. I hope this is helpful.
I have 3 X 100w and 2 X 30w panels, feeding 2 charge controllers. Even with clouds, there are some amps going into the batteries, which accounts for the minor discrepancies above.
I would like to set up the lighting and maybe even heat and cooling in a 20 ×30 foot shop.
I'd love to put some panels in my back yard... but not sure how that'd work for metering or what practical use it would have since I don't have much to power out in the yard. I'd love them on my roof but not only is that much more expensive, it's more of a pain to maintain. My yard doesn't get enough shade anyways (it has no trees) so it'd be great to have shade and make some energy too.
If I had a shed, that'd be a different story, but sadly, I also don't have a shed :D
you can get build a ground mount solar system, kinda like a patio or pergola with solar modules on top and trench back to the utility meter. To cut on costs, if you are handy enough, you can do the entire process yourself with help from additional friend who has either construction experience and most importantly electrical knowledge.
search "ground mount solar system"
@@mthemole Yeah that's the only way I'd do it. I'll never willingly poke extra holes in my roof; I've got missing shingles as it is, and don't want more work for the roofers to have to hassle with. In our lifetimes, I doubt "house carports" will exist, but that would solve the issue of where to put panels in a way that allows for ideal placement aim while protecting the roof too.
It's not hard to trench to the house to get the power there. You can get systems that don't export but doing that will pretty much require batteries too, or a small system that is meh. I like going all out and displacing all my power needs, I have 8kW of solar generating 9mWh a year, displacing my house + car (7mWh for house per year, 2mWh for car for my driving). There's so many ways to work with it though, I can see how it's confusing and hard to know what route to go with it.
Arizona pass a bill that even act retro active. If you use solar, you going to have to pay more via fee. AND if you are plug in, they demand they can get your power you produce BEFORE you fill up your batteries. If they "need it". Careful with your state
Great video you have a new SUB I am thinking of putting a Solar Panel on my shed roof to run Solar lights around my garden what would be the best setup.👍😁
I have 2 170 watts and in winter they can't even power my Hue lights in the garden (Netherlands), so I charge for a few days and switch. In summer it will probably be fine, maybe I get some extra and I am searching to dynamically use that (battery is in shed, so not for phone charging etc).
Does The storage device use solar only to charge the battery? What if the battery is full? Would that basically waste any juice the solar might pick up or does it then use solar to power the electronics instead?
What about connecting two or tree cells in parallel?
How much solar power do you need to run a 43”tv for about 8-12 hrs a day, what you you recommend.
Good stuff
Thanks!
How much power does a 3 gallon dehumidifier need to collect water from air? Is 1 panel enough to store enough energy in the Power BOX? I need to collect constant water to hand build up off grid land while living in tent and car.
I wanna create a power trailer or a off grid camper trailer. Maybe hot water but i wanna be able to power a laptop, a tv and stereo. Not all at once musoc during the day games and tv at night. Maybe a stove
Its recommended to not put solar panels on roof but to do a specific awning for them 👍👍👍
Hi! I'm Actually Wanting To Set-up My Tacoma Into An As They Say Now "Van Life" & Traveling/ Living In It. I Want To Turn Solar Into 110 V Custom Outlets For A Portable Fridge, Lighting Etc Living Space. Any Advice On Inverters Etc? I'm A General Contractor & Do All Phases But Master Carpenter Mostly, I Know Nothing About Solar Stuff. Thanks!
a Sense Energy Monitor is a great tool to understand how much power your home devices use.
In the next week or 2 I will be installing a EMPORIA VUE so I can break out to separate circuits and start understanding the energy consumption across my appliances. 👍
Could you please look into home wind turbines. When you get more wind than sun on average, the wind turbine sounds like a better choice, with solar as a supplement.
We will definitely explore that topic in the future. Thanks for the feedback 👍
Wind turbines produce about 10% of their rated output over the course of a year. The large wind turbines installed by your local electric company costs about $3 million dollars. Payback is 30 - 50 years, unfortunately the electronics, bearings and structure will not last that long. The power a wind turbine produces will cost 3 -4 times your current utility rate.
@@kb9gkc - I want personal ones. We live in the PNW. We don't get sun for 9 months of the year. But we have wind every day. LOTS of wind. It would give us just enough to keep the batteries going, especially at night and particularly dark days. Unless you have a magical solar panel that works in the dark, I think this would be a better option for us. And who knows - maybe take out a few of the stupid hawks eating my chickens! Sounds like a two-fer to me!