DIY Solar Panel Kits

some material that says the inverter ties into the meter and power flows from there to the distribution panel: http://www.altestore.com/store/Kits-and-Package-Deals/Grid-Tied-Systems/Alt-E-Designed-Grid-Tie-Packages/AltE-Grid-Tied-Package-System-A-1kw/p6629/

While other material indicates that the inverter is before the panel and after the meter: http://homepower.com/basics/solar/#SolarElectricSystemComponents

Is one or the other "correct"? If both are used when is one preferred over the other or what are the advantages of one installation over the other? I am presently asking about the different approaches rather than a practical application.
Thanks for your answer Brian. Then how do you explain the first cite with its nice pictures showing a different configuration?

The inverter output is tied to your breaker panel. The breaker panel is fed from the meter. You always tie in at the breaker panel so you have a safe method to shut it off and so you have the breaker over-current protection.

is there any guide available online for GreenDIYenergy (Top Converting) Solar,Wind Energy Diy.

You can build Solar Panels yourself, but it takes time. The Plus side is that is is much cheaper. Some claim they can be made for 200 dollars, I would say 1000, which is still VERY cheap ,

BTW you can make one yourself - there is a video to instruct you how to create solar hot water using a black hose

yes

I’m not sure what’s my roof is made of, could be clay or concrete or decra. But you know this material absorb heat and subsequently travel all the way down into the house, that makes a house hot. Nevertheless, thought of going green, if i replace my roof with solar panel/cell, does it also make my home less hot since it does not absorb heat as much as conventional roof (solar cells are suppose to absorb light, right?)

From a purely theoretical standpoint, the solar energy that your panels convert to electricity can’t make your house hotter.

From a practical standpoint, the solar panels will shade the roof somewhat, especially if they are mounted on some kind of support a couple of inches above the roof plane.

Hard to say how much of an effect this would have.

needs help please

duct tape

I just got my first solar-panel starter kit, and I want to use it for my light, so I have to have a battery for it.
The panels are 12 volt, 65 watt.
What kind of battery/batteries, and how many lights can I have on it?
My mistake, it is 60 watt, not 65, and there are 4 panels, I do not know if they are 60 what each, or total.
IGNORE EVERYTHING BEFORE THIS…..
Ok. here are the facts.
4 15 watt solar panels, for a total of 60 watts.
1 200 watt inverter.
1 regulator/controller
I also have 1 75 watt inverter, and 1 800 watt inverter that did not come with the kit.
The only things on them will be lights, and 1 outlet when the power is out, the outlet will be on the main line when we do have power, the lights will be on solar all the time.
What kind of batteries can I use, and how many lights can I have on it?
What kind of batteries do I need, how many, and how many lights can I have on it?
I am also open to ideas on how to hook everything up. I think I know how to do it, but others have already done this sort of stuff, so it would be smart to get ideas from them.

First off, for solar applications it is imperative to use deep cycle batteries (ie. batteries that offer a regulated power output over a relatively long time without needing a charge cycle often, typically used in marine, RV and solar/wind/hydro models) Deep cycle batteries, unlike starter batteries (which are usually found in automobiles) can be run down to 50% of capacity and charged back up with little to no degradation of internal chemicals (mainly lead).

Next, with the panels you would be using you can accrue 60 total watts of power per hour of sunlight you obtain. So as you can see we are in a bit of a guesstimation game in which you need to hypothesize how much sun you expect. For this model we will use a even 5 hours daily. Obviously, in practical application it will be a lot less neat but….
So if you get 5 hours of sunlight at 60watts/hr than on a day to day basis you have a total of 300watt/hrs per day to play with. Now due to efficiency recommendations of 50% discharge of deep cycle batteries you would want to have approximately a 12 V 600 watt battery (or 2 X 300 watt, etc.)

Now if you wanted to power your lighting system solely off the 300watt/hrs generated by your solar panels and you have to power the lighting for 8 hours (whatever the amount of darkness is) then you take your 300watt/hrs divided by total time needed to run the system (8 hours for this hypothetical) equals 37.5 watts of power available for each of those 8 hours. I would recommend running no more than 30 watt lighting on your current inverter setup.

Hope this was helpful,

Shawn

I want to make a DIY solar panel… But i don’t have much budget… Can someone lend me a hand? and maybe include details of the location and the solar cells

You can get some materials in your local electrical/junk shop or you can search for them online. As for the guide, here’s one that might be of interest to you.

My Grandfather just purchased a cheap solar panel kit for his ranch that could not muster enough power to run his mini fridge.

He has two 6 volt batteries running positive to negative and would like to add more batteries. Probably 12volt. How would he go about hooking up the other batteries and what kind of wire or coil should he use.

Also, I saw on youtube a guy recommending a lead-acid battery from walmart for under $20. I was just going to go to ecology and just pick up some used batteries but I may be wrong.

Any help for a first timer might help me and my gramps out will be appreciated.

Thank you

If he is going to be running off batteries at night, he would be better off with "traction" batteries.
Traction batteries are true deep cycle and can better withstand deep discharge. Golf cart batteries at Sam’s Club (the other half of Walmart) are "traction batteries."

If your grandfather needs safe refrigeration, a mini fridge won’t do it. A 110 fridge takes too much power to run off solar panels and most won’t hold their cold very well if unplugged for long.

I run a fridge off grid with hybrid deep cycle marine starting batteries. It’s an Engel 40. The price has gone up over $100 since I bought mine. It’s a real fridge with a compressor and freon 134a. But it runs on 12v dc or 110vac and only uses 36 watts running because of a special compressor design. It will freeze food if you turn the dial down to 2 out of 5. It can also deep freeze.

I use mine to keep eggs, milk, cheese and fruit juice.

Your grandfather would need 400 amp-hours name plate rating of batteries at 12v to run the Engel, and probably 100 real watts of panels to recharge his battery bank. The Harbor Freight 45 watt panel set only puts out 30 watts on a clear cool day. That won’t do it.

OK - I want to put my green house on 100% solar - what do I need to know about solar panels and what do I look for?

Then I was curious about my home - if I wanted to offset some costs what do I look for. I see lots of kits just don’t know which to get.

Lastly - storage can you store solar energy in a battery of some sort.

There are lots of books you can get at the library for free or at amazon.com that go into the detail you need to be self-sufficient in greenhouse growing with only solar heat or electric for a source.

The problems arise in the winter. Often the sun is out with any intensity for only around 5 hours in dec-jan. The electricity production or generation of solar heat are very low during these months. Also the glass used in a greenhouse is very low in insulative properties so it loses more heat than it gains especially during the long nights.

What you need is some extras. Maybe a wood fired heater in the greenhouse, or a windmill if you have any windpower in the winter in your region.

You may also want to consider slide on insulating coverings. These would be either foam panels or fiberfill batts that you can slide over your glass at night to help retain heat much better.

There is a magazine I’ve been getting for 30 years that is now online and gives many many stories of self sufficiency in energy (and food, home and work for that matter). They have many articles in their archives for making greenhouses and solar panels and solar heated water.
Solar heated water is the most cost effective and best use of the sun’s energy in comparison to solar electric panels. In a greenhouse you are worried about heat more than electricity. A 3000 btu heater in solar might only cost $200. To make enough electricity to run a 3000 btu heater in electric might cost $2,000 and be more complicated and need batteries and so forth.

With solar heat you can just heat up a big tank of water during the day, with some black painted glass covered panels and blow the stored heat over some large rocks or bubble thru some water and let the stored mass give off it’s heat during the night. (You still need to cover the greenhouse with some roll-on roll-off insulation panels.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy.aspx