Portable Solar Power

[Straight Shooter]

Hi guys n gals, I need help, although I have some solar chargers for batteries and mobile phones etc. I am now looking for a portable type set up, I have seen 1 on ebay for about £239 but I have NO idea on what I should get, the setup comes with a solar panel, deep cell battery,inverter with all the leads , just plug in the leads and off you go 3000 volts will run a light or fridge. Now then I am no sparky ,not got a bloody clue , can anyone tell me what to get , keep it simple, like talking to a 6 year old , I would be most grateful for any help, from a money point of view , I have no budget as such but I want something up to the job. many thanks ss

[Skean Dhude]

3000 Volts. I think you mean 3000 Watts

Solar panels come in many sizes but the big ones are usually 100 to 150 Watts. I'd guess 3KW will keep a few things going just fine.

Personally, I'm aligning panels with requirements. Solar Panel and then my radio, solar panel and the computer and so on. I can keep them away safe until I need them. I am looking at a few units as general use in the same way you are.

[Straight Shooter]

Thanks SD , you are right watts ( that should tell you something about me and electrics )lol

[Spandex228]

(22 April 2013, 19:36)Straight Shooter Wrote: Hi guys n gals, I need help, although I have some solar chargers for batteries and mobile phones etc. I am now looking for a portable type set up, I have seen 1 on ebay for about £239 but I have NO idea on what I should get, the setup comes with a solar panel, deep cell battery,inverter with all the leads , just plug in the leads and off you go 3000 volts will run a light or fridge. Now then I am no sparky ,not got a bloody clue , can anyone tell me what to get , keep it simple, like talking to a 6 year old , I would be most grateful for any help, from a money point of view , I have no budget as such but I want something up to the job. many thanks ss

Hello SS Iam very interested in a portable solar set up like yourself, and know very little about the subject. I am wandering if there is a Panel/system which is versatile enough to be portable what you could mount on a camper/BOV, and then use it to add on to a system of panels on a building with existing panels which are used to top up a bank of batteries does such a versatile pannel exist.

[Straight Shooter]

Yes I think they exist S , I am no expert on this subject either, but when looking on ebay I did notice a unit for caravans and boats camping etc. but I am not sure about connecting into a existing system , like SD points out , he is looking at a specific job for a specific piece of equipment ( stand alone ) at least that's I think he meant, I hold the same view , if one goes down you have a backup, all I am looking for is basic and simple , enough for light and charging 12 volt battery.

[Tarrel]

3kW will need about 30 square metres of panels in the UK. Not really practical for a portable setup. Also, current costs for panels work out about 80 pence per Watt, that's excluding the battery, inverter, charge controller, etc., so you'd be looking at over £2,000 just for panels.

Someone's got the sums wrong somewhere.

The way to work it out is:

1. Calculate the daily energy need, for example (and these are figures picked out of thin air):
Portable flourescent lamps x 2 at 15W each, used for 3 hours per day = 90Wh (Watt-hours) per day
iPad charging 2 hours a day = 2 x 10W = 20Wh per day
Fridge, taking 300W, running 24 hours a day and "kicking in" 10% of the time = 720Wh
TOTAL so far: 830Wh per day

2. Calculate the size of solar array you need, based on your demand and expected hours of sun, e.g.:
Assume 4 hours of sun per day. Panel size needed = 830 / 4 = 210W (roughly)

3. Calculate the size of battery bank you'll need to store the electricity and even out the peaks and troughs of production and demand. I'd go for, say, two full days worth of demand, so if you have two really rubbish days of no sun, you'll still have energy in reserve. 2 x 830Wh = 1660Wh. Using "Volts x Amps = Watts", and assuming 12V batteries, that means 138 Amp-hours worth of batteries.

This is very rough and doesn't take into account losses in your inverter, etc., but it's a starting point.

HTH.

[Straight Shooter]

There is a unit on ebay under "Portable solar power " offered at £229 300 watt, all ready to go incl panel leads deep cell battery and inverter all ready to plug in and go, will run 2 lights or a small fridge

[Tarrel]

That sounds more like it. Still very cheap though.

[Straight Shooter]

The kit list
1 x 45 watt solar panel
1 x 125ah deep cycle battery
1 x 300 watt inverter
and the leads
price £229.99 delivered

[uks]

Have you guys thought of flexible solar panels?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid...&_from=R40

I use one for my BOV which ive wired in to charge the main battery and the aux battery. Which I run a inverter off the aux battery.