Outdoor Solar Lights

I want to know the total investment on Solar Energy PLant for my home. My requiement is, it should provide enough energy for Water heater, (4)Fan, (8)Tube Light, (1)Computer and (1)Television set.

What is required energy (in term of Watt) for above appliances?

I would suggest that you consider installing two different solar devises; one for heating and one for electricity. Water can be heated by collecting solar energy in a panel that allows sunlight to pass through a treated glass or plastic pane and shine on a black convoluted surface that avoids reflection. The heat produced can not escapes as easily as sunlight enters. This is the greenhouse effect that heats your car on a rather cool day. Inside the solar panel there are tubes or pipes that circulate cooling water to carry off the heat to an insulated storage tank. In cold regions the cooling water must contain antifreeze. The panel shoud be placed on a roof nearly perpendicular to a line from the sun at noon durning the cold season. In the upper USA that would be a southern exposure. The solar panel can be used to pre-heat water that is further heated by an electric or gas waterheater. The number of panels you will need will depend on the number of people using hot water and whether you use it as the sole source of warm water or as preheat. Expect panels to cost hundreds of dollars, depending on whether you install them yourself.

For electrical loads, you should consider installing photovoltaic solar panels which produce direct current (DC). This can be used for heating water or running electrical equipment and lights but heating may use up the entire capacity of the panel(s). You may need a battery to store energy and a converter to provide the correct voltage (and AC?) as desired. Expect voltaic solar panels to cost less as new technologies come to market. DayStar is building a factory now to produce cheaper continuous film cells (that could cover a roof?).

The wattage for various items you wish to power is usually included on the manufacturer’s identification plate and depends on the size and model you have or wish to buy. Good luck.

I want to know the total investment on Solar Energy PLant for my home. My requiement is, it should provide enough energy for Water heater, (4)Fan, (8)Tube Light, (1)Computer and (1)Television set.

What is required energy (in term of Watt) for above appliances?

I would suggest that you consider installing two different solar devises; one for heating and one for electricity. Water can be heated by collecting solar energy in a panel that allows sunlight to pass through a treated glass or plastic pane and shine on a black convoluted surface that avoids reflection. The heat produced can not escapes as easily as sunlight enters. This is the greenhouse effect that heats your car on a rather cool day. Inside the solar panel there are tubes or pipes that circulate cooling water to carry off the heat to an insulated storage tank. In cold regions the cooling water must contain antifreeze. The panel shoud be placed on a roof nearly perpendicular to a line from the sun at noon durning the cold season. In the upper USA that would be a southern exposure. The solar panel can be used to pre-heat water that is further heated by an electric or gas waterheater. The number of panels you will need will depend on the number of people using hot water and whether you use it as the sole source of warm water or as preheat. Expect panels to cost hundreds of dollars, depending on whether you install them yourself.

For electrical loads, you should consider installing photovoltaic solar panels which produce direct current (DC). This can be used for heating water or running electrical equipment and lights but heating may use up the entire capacity of the panel(s). You may need a battery to store energy and a converter to provide the correct voltage (and AC?) as desired. Expect voltaic solar panels to cost less as new technologies come to market. DayStar is building a factory now to produce cheaper continuous film cells (that could cover a roof?).

The wattage for various items you wish to power is usually included on the manufacturer’s identification plate and depends on the size and model you have or wish to buy. Good luck.

I also want to stay off the electric grid . It would cost an additional ten thousand dollars to be hooked into it and I want to be independant from utilities. Would solar panels and batteries power lights and T.V , computer , washer dryer ect.

I doubt this is realistically possible- the battery storage required would be tremendous. This is why net-metering is available in most parts of the country. You want to be connected to the grid but able to generate your own power.

Just size your panels appropriately and look for other design ideas to minimize your electricity demand;

geothermal HVAC
daylighting
super-insulation

or how many watts? i dont use much electricity. i have on a couple of lights and a computer, sometimes the tv. how many solar panels would i need to power those constantly throughout the day, and maybe charge batteries for night? the air, refrigerator and hot water heater i would still use regular electricity.

Solar panels produce DC electricity, not AC. So, they would have to charge a bank of batteries, then you’d need an inverter to convert DC to AC.

You need to find what your peak wattage is (consumption) and how long you want to run things for and work backwards from there.

Suffice to say, a roof-full of panels probably won’t be enough.

Make sure if you are using solar for lighting, the light bulbs are either CFL or LED bulbs. Traditional incandescent bulbs use far too much electricity to make it reasonable.

You have 2 basic choices. You can use DC bulbs, and use a solar panel, a charge controller to control charging the battery, and a battery. (DC bulbs – http://www.altestore.com/store/Lighting-Fans/Compact-Fluorescent/Compact-Fluorescent-Dc/c495/). DC bulbs are more expensive, but an easier setup. Or if you want to use regular AC bulbs, you need a solar panel, charge controller, battery, and an inverter to convert the DC power to AC. You’ll also need to have proper safety and grounding equipment in either solution.

If you just use three 11W bulbs for 4 hours a day, you’ll need about a 30 amp hour battery ($65), 35Watt solar panel ($200), and a charge controller ($30) http://www.altestore.com/store/Charge-Controllers/Solar-Charge-Controllers/Pwm-Type-Solar-Charge-Contollers/Morningstar-Charge-Controllers-Pwm/Morningstar-Sunguard-45A-12V-Pwm-Charge-Cntrlr/p793/. Figure another $50 or so for breakers and wires and such. This is not figuring for extra storage for rainy days, you’d need a bigger battery for that if needed. If you go with the AC option, you’d also need the inverter ($110) http://www.altestore.com/store/Inverters/Off-Grid-Inverter/10-to-299-Watts/Samlex-150W-12V-Pure-Sine-Wave-Inverter/p1043/.

If you used LED bulbs, the bulbs are more expensive, but you could use a smaller battery and panel.

Hello
I intend to buy 200-200watt solar power to take to a remote part of Asia.l hope to use it for 3 months to power our Laptop, TV, Microwave, Mobile phones, printer, Lighting, Fan etc.
Does anyone know where I can buy?Thanks
Category

Something sounds wrong. It’s a remote area, yet you will have mobile phones, internet connection, and TV? If it’s a place that has this kind of thing, it probably has grid power. If not, you should look into buying a gas-powered generator when you get there.

Portable solar power, the kind that’s really useful, is not cheap, and I noticed that your question has the word, "affordable." A system that puts out 200 watts is not hard to find, but the kind of run time you will get powering a small TV is maybe 20 minutes, powering a laptop, maybe half an hour. And then, it would take 7-10 sunny days to charge itself up again. Such a system has no chance of powering most microwave ovens. That’s what you get for $500. You would scale up if you want more runtime.

If you buy a rigid solar panel of 200W when you get there, you could use it to charge two car batteries, and run an inverter off those. That would give you several hours of runtime, but would not be portable at all. I would expect to spend $2000 on such a setup, and donate it to my host when I left.

The best advice I can give you may be to live as the natives do. That will make your experience richer, anyway. If they use kerosene lamps, or open fire, then do your work by that light. If they cook in an underground pit, or with a solar oven, or eat most of their food raw, you do that, too. All of the appliances you list sound unnecessary, except possibly the laptop, and only if it’s used to control or automatically gather data from some equipment. To take notes, there’s always pen and paper.

does anyone know of a good website that can show me how to rig up a solar panel, battery and inverter to power a few energy saver light globes (say 10-15 watt each), in my house? thanks
and i was thinking of using a car battery for power storage, is this appropriate? what are the possible limitations of doing this, are there any hazards?

Depending on your knowledge you may buy a kit and observe the parameters.
You will need about 25 square inch per watt
You may need a battery to store the energy
You will have to calculate the size based on your requirements target.

You have to engineer the whole thing; it is fun and very educative.
Autoparts and camping stores have small affordable panels.

Electronic stores have the rest.

Or you can buy a small solar lantern take it appart and reverse engineere-it!

Hope this properly answers your question

Guru

I also want to stay off the electric grid . It would cost an additional ten thousand dollars to be hooked into it and I want to be independant from utilities. Would solar panels and batteries power lights and T.V , computer , washer dryer ect.

TV, lights and small appliances, yes. Washer, maybe. Dryer, not likely unless it’s gas – consider a clothesline. Electric range or oven, no. Hot tub, no unless it’s converted to a gas heater.

The raw panels are about $3-8 per watt. So for 6Kw figure about $18k for the panels. The charger/inverter and batteries, figure $2-3k more. Figure about $30k including the installation.

You might also consider a generator. The off-grid houses I’ve seen tend to have them, even if they have batteries too. Add $3k for that.

Do you have a creek? Consider small-scale hydro too.

I also want to stay off the electric grid . It would cost an additional ten thousand dollars to be hooked into it and I want to be independant from utilities. Would solar panels and batteries power lights and T.V , computer , washer dryer ect.

TV, lights and small appliances, yes. Washer, maybe. Dryer, not likely unless it’s gas – consider a clothesline. Electric range or oven, no. Hot tub, no unless it’s converted to a gas heater.

The raw panels are about $3-8 per watt. So for 6Kw figure about $18k for the panels. The charger/inverter and batteries, figure $2-3k more. Figure about $30k including the installation.

You might also consider a generator. The off-grid houses I’ve seen tend to have them, even if they have batteries too. Add $3k for that.

Do you have a creek? Consider small-scale hydro too.

Yes it is but only if your state will subsidize at least 30% of it and you live in a sunny state (that’s for solar). Wind is more predictable but it costs a bit more due to the wear and tear on the parts.

Rival