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Solar Installation Examples
Solar power really works!
I have used several different solar panels and regulators and products but here are a few real examples of what solar power can do for you:
- A 24 X 36 foot pole barn that has a 1 amp solar panel installed facing the south. The solar panel is fed into two 35 amp hour batteries and it runs one 12 volt light, one 12 volt fan and through a 100 watt inverter runs five lights. I have a manual switching system on the outside of the barn that is attached to the batteries and a regulator. Occasionally I will switch the power going to on eor the other battery to maintain a charge. Soon I will be adding an automatic battery switcher that will sense the voltages automatically and switch back and forth as the batteries demand it. I will also be adding a temperature sensor to the fans so as to save the battery and only have it come on when the temp in the barn goes over 80 degrees or so. The fan is 12 volt DC. The combination of a 17 volt 1 amp solar panel and a 35 amp hour gel cell with an inverter and regulator allows me to have a radio and lights playing and also a fan, lights etc.
- A 10 watt solar panel installed on a south facing wall of a 2500 sq. ft. home fed into a 100 amp hour sealed marine battery then fed into a 500 watt inverter powers six low power fluorescent lights in a basement used for emergency power back up needs. The lights when all turned on will totally light a large basement even brighter than the normal power 110 lighting. The lights will run for over eight hours with out any charge. If the lights are conserved they would easily last over 24 to 36 hours. The battery being charged by the solar panel also is connected to three amateur radio low power transceivers for emergency purposes. This power system was necessitated by a 100 year ice storm a few years back. I am now the only one that has lights when we have a temporary power outage. My goal was simple,that I do not have to pull out a heavy gas generator and try to fire it up. I just go turn on my lights.
- Another application is a 700 watt inverter connected to a 12 volt 50 Amp/hour battery that I installed a DC switch to and fed heavy duty 10 gauge wire up to the main office where I connected it to a plug and a light. The switch controls the inverter downstairs. The inverter is not too quiet so we do not have to listen to it when it is working. All we have to do is flip the switch and voila, we have light. We use this quite often now and in fact I have another inverter across the room and it too is connected to a 12 volt battery. I light up at times up to three fluorescent lights! This test inverter is connected to a beta dual battery switcher that should be ready for prime time in about 90 days. I again am utilizing a 17 volt, 1 amp solar panels one for each configuration and they work very well.
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