Solar Power question

[JenGC]

I was at Academy Sports the other day and saw solar panels that hook up to a rechargeable battery that you can buy. I asked the guy how you are suppose to get the electronics you want to run off the battery and he didn't know. I understand how you hook up the solar panel to the battery. What I don't understand is how you run the other stuff off the battery! Anyone know?

Thanks!

Jen

[tygerkittn]

I only know what I could figure out from reading reviews at amazon, you can hook it to your car battery and run DC power while it keeps your car battery constantly charged, or you can buy a power inverter that lets you plug regular electronics into it via/ your car, I'm sure there are other ways to use it, but that's one.
Amazon has a solar battery charger that does AA batteries for $18.

[kenny1659]

The batteries have to be hooked up in series then to an inverter to run anything that uses ac/current (anything you would plug into a wall socket).
If it uses 12volts dc then they would be hooked up parallel to get enough amps to run your device.

[watchman]

If you have a 12v DC negative battery like an automobile battery, and you need to power a 12v -gnd item, you just connect it. As long as the battery has capacity it will power the device. (lots of street lights, signage, low level area lighting for walkways use these.)

If you have more power needs you can connect batteries in series or parallel, depending on the requirements.

If you have less need you use devices to step down your power from the batteries to the device.

Not sure if that is what you needed or not.

There are many books and other sources for this type of stuff.

Do searches on solar arrays, solar power, batteries, dc power, low voltage, dc to ac conversion. For starters and then follow the trails that interest you.

Happy hunting.

(electrons are very strange critters, and can positively, leave a negative impression if you are not careful...)

[Just A Clay Pot]

A good arrangement is to use the solar battery to recharge a deep-charge 12v marine battery (a car battery is really designed for short bursts of high current, where a boat battery is better suited for long term moderate current.)

Then, hook up a 12v power inverter. This will generate 120 vac, which can run household items. I wouldn't suggest trying to run too high of wattage (1500w would be about as high as I'd go using battery/inverter combo of an "off-the-shelf" type.) Use the wattage listed on the inverter as a guide to what can be safely operated.

For higher total wattages, it would be a better idea to go for a generator.

If you need help putting something like this together, a great local resource is amateur radio operators (hams.) Many hams build and operate gear like this as part of their emergency preparedness. You can normally get a contact for these folks from a local Radio Shack or electronics parts store.

[HSmomto4]

I would LOVE to get rid of my power company and go solar! I would do almost anything to get rid of my power company!!!!

[JenGC]

I will check with Radio Shack and see what they have. I was thinking something that would power itself (a generator needs some sort of fluid and the humm of it running makes me nervous) for small things like, coffee grinder or a fan or something small. I would love to run a frige but I am thinking that might be a bit too big. Maybe a small square frige (one that you would use in a college dorm).

Thanks! I knew you guys would be able to help :)

Jen

[MoreThanReady]

I would LOVE to get rid of my power company and go solar! I would do almost anything to get rid of my power company!!!!

Depending on where you live, it'll cost you about 10k to do so, and depending on the state you can sell back unused power to the power company, which is how you reallykeep your cost down, as you would draw power at night and in theory sell power back to the grid during the day.

We plan on moving in 3 to 5 years , so are not adding solar to our current home, but our next home will have south facing roof with solar. There are some newer solar panels out that get really good conversion rates.

One thing to consider on the 10k is that you are basically paying for 20 to 30 years worth of power all at one time,a nd unless you think electric rates are going to go down soon, it will pay for itself over time.

[Pendragon]

I was at Academy Sports the other day and saw solar panels that hook up to a rechargeable battery that you can buy. I asked the guy how you are suppose to get the electronics you want to run off the battery and he didn't know. I understand how you hook up the solar panel to the battery. What I don't understand is how you run the other stuff off the battery! Anyone know?

Thanks!

Jen

You get what is called an inverter which changes power from DC to AC also controls how much or little power and depends on the watts and volts

[Issachar]

I asked the guy how you are suppose to get the electronics you want to run off the battery and he didn't know. He didn't know? I do. You buy the electronics to run off the battery. :) (just kidding. Hope you didn't mind.)

Seriously, can you post a link to the device you have in mind? There were some good suggestions given so far but without more knowledge of what you really want to power off this thing, it's hard to answer accurately.

Issachar