Article on positioning Solar Panels on homes

[NorthernRaider]

[iaaems]

I got into a situation where I had a 'surplus' leisure battery - in good condition as it was only a few months old. In order for it to stay in good condition it has to kept charged up to a reasonable level. It occurred to me that I could try out a little bit of 'free energy' and see if I could keep this item charged up at little continuous cost. So I purchased an 80watt panel and charge controller kit. The panel is fixed to a west facing wall (not on the roof as I did not want to greatly advertise the fact that I have this bit of kit).
Does it work?
Well the answer is - yes.
The central piece of kit is the charge controller. There are two types as far as I can see. The one I have is very basic but it works.
As soon as it gets to be daylight the panel is converting the energy to volts and the battery is being charged. During the day the battery is charged up and ready for use. At dusk the charge controller switches into supply mode for the rest of the night and I can use the battery as a supply source. In this case I have got hold of some 12v LED light units and converted some unused desk lamps to work with the LED's. So I have my 'office' lit by 'free energy' in what might be described as an 'off grid situation'. Also during the night we have a night light on - very useful for the odd nocturnal loo visits.
My point here is that the one panel has proved they work facing west on a wall and that you do not have to be hooked up to the grid to get some benefit from all of this. In the event of a power failure we will have some good quality lighting during the dark hours.
As far as I can tell Solar Panels at present are not very 'efficient' and there is something called nanotechnology in the pipeline which will make these items more effective and therefore you will not have to have so many as at present to produce the required result.
One conclusion that I have arrived at is that I could expand my 'experiment' and get to a situation where 'off grid rules' and I might be able to not use the mains supply.
In any event I think that this current obsession with feed in tariffs etc. is not that wholesome.

[NorthernRaider]

Good post Iaams, I personally was not wanting a full off grid power system ( I would like one but cannot afford one) I do want an emergency 12 v system to run just a few LED lights and to power / recharge phones, radios etc that I can set up / take down quickly when needed, so I did not want a full array on the roof. So your research and similar research done by Wet & Cold gives me enough info to think a couple of panels hung up on a wall or fence should give me the power I need.

[iaaems]

Now that I have made the initial move in the 'experiment' it has become clear that the 80watt panel will have to have a mate and this will lead to a different charge controller to handle the extra power plus possibly another 12v leisure battery wired up in parallel to give me a bigger 'tank'. Yes it is going to get expensive!!
But - if I am able to achieve all this - what will I be able to do and have? As already stated enough power for some good lights plus be able to power up my laptop if the battery is low and also be able to run my 12v t.v. to keep the troops contented.
With the setup as it currently is, on a cloudy day the battery is recharged by about 1pm - on a sunny day the same position is achieved by about 11am+abit. All this before the sun has got round to being anywhere near beaming on to the panel itself.
At this point I feel that 'going off-grid' may be just a step too far but for emergency purposes etc. it is sufficient - and I will have enjoyed playing with all the bits and pieces and learning something at the same time.

[NorthernRaider]

I bought an 80 watt solar panel kit off E bay it came with a control doofah that allowed for up to 300 watts, I think there is reference to it in the power section of SUK

[iaaems]

[Devonian]

[NorthernRaider]

[iaaems]

[Skvez]

Any chance of measuring what current the 80W solar panel produces when in the sub-optimal west facing position?

It will produce some power but it’s probably producing only about 1/3 of what it could if it was better orientated.