Solar Panel Grid
4 Steps to Build an Off-The-Grid Solar Powered Cabin
Author: Justin R.
Do you have a remote cabin that needs power? Don’t pay outrageous amounts for a professional solar panel system when you can build your own for 10 times cheaper. Follow these basic steps and learn how to build you own homemade solar panels for under 0.
1. The first step is to calculate how much power your solar power system needs to generate. If this is a seasonal/weekend cabin, 400-500 watts should be enough. If you don’t have enough upfront cash to get a system this big all at once, don’t worry. Once you get the basic infrastructure built, you can just add panels to increase your wattage.
2. Now you will want to decide what major appliances you need. Newer appliances are much more efficient, so if possible use newer models. Don’t be afraid to scale down, this is a cabin we’re talking about here. A brand new mini-fridge is a much better option than a 30 year old full-size fridge.
3. Consider if a water system is necessary. If you decide you want a water system, I would recommend a gravity fed system so you don’t need to waste power on a water pump. If you use your cottage often, you might consider a solar powered well pump that would feed to a tank in the attic. Solar powered water heaters are a great option to consider as well.
4. Finally, and most importantly: Don’t spend thousands on a professional system! You can learn to build your own solar panels for under 0. Don’t get suckered into spending 10 times that. You may be thinking: “But I don’t know how to build a solar panel. That sounds complicated!” It’s not as tricky as you might think…
There are tons of guides and e-books out there that will teach you how to build your own solar panels, but which ones are worth your money? You’ll want to get a guide that has detailed step-by-step instructions. The more pictures and diagrams the better. Consider a guide that includes videos if you’re more of a visual learner.
I’ve purchased a few of these DIY solar panel guides myself and reviewed them to help people like you make more informed decisions. Go to http://www.squidoo.com/renewableenergyforhome to read my reviews to see which guide is the best!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/4-steps-to-build-an-offthegrid-solar-powered-cabin-917822.html
About the Author
In case you didn’t notice, I’m a big fan of making my own renewable energy. I want to share my successes and failures and let people learn for my experiences.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
Electrical power is measured in watts or W.
1.5 KW is 1500 W.
Energy is what we pay for and it is POWER x TIME and is usually measured in KW-Hrs
The solar panel puts out 1.5 KW of power which is probably a peak value under maximum sunlight conditions. Its the sunlight that matters not the outside temperature.
The sunlight intensity depends on both the season and how close to the equator you are. I would think that its fairly strong even in the Perth Australian winter.
If you totaled all the sunlight intensity in a day it would on average be the same as the sun shining for 4 hours only at peak sunlight intensity. I’m not positive about that number.
So then multiplying the values we get:
(1.5 KW)(4 Hrs)(30 days) = 180 KW-Hrs in one month.
If the utility company charged you 10 cents per KW-Hr then its worth
(0.1)(180) = 18 dollars per month. (Using U.S. money)
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
It’s feasible to run a house on solar panels. Is it cost effective, not really.
You would need solar panels, 12volt batteries, and an inverter. It would have to be sized to handle the small fridge motor. I would guess about $1500 to $2000.
Here is some info. on solar grid tie systems.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
2n2222 is right about the power you could get from the panel not being enough for what you want.
There’s also the fact that you need an inverter to convert the DC from the PV cells to AC for the fridge and that everything between the inverter and power point is mains voltage and therefore deadly.
There’s also the need to have the grid connection completely shut off during a power outage so that you don’t accidentally feed power into the grid while someone is fixing the power lines (otherwise you may end up killing a maintenance worker and getting charged with manslaughter).
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
You need a “grid tie inverter”.
They do make them in a DIY set up. The simplest ones just plug in to the wall. If you can hook up a battery charger you can do this.
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hANi5NbcY5g
To all the call a pro folks, Please watch the video before you hit the thumbs down. It’s no longer complex or dangerous. Tell the truth, it really doesn’t rise up to the level of diy.
November 30, -0001
12:00 am
In round figures, let’s say you’ve got a 500 watt power supply in your computer. That seems pretty average. Now maybe most of the time your computer isn’t using all 500 watts, but that’s how much your power supply can deliver when it needs to, so we should design a solar system that can accomodate that much as well, so that it’s not the weak link in the system.
You need 500 watts over 24 hours, or about 12 kilowatt hours per day. Of course, your solar cell isn’t going to work for that part of the day when the sun is down, so you have to be charging a battery + driving the computer while the sun is up. To keep the figures round, let’s say you get sun for half the day. Then your solar system has to provide 12 kilowatt hours in only 12 hours. Basically, you are going to need a bare minimum of 1000 watts worth of solar cells.
A sample solar cell (URL below) is 11.5″ x 14.75″ and provides 11 watts. That would be one watt for every 15 square inches of solar cell. So you need 15000 square inches of solar cell to get your 1000 watts. That would be approximately 10′ x 10′.
Of course, the 11 watt rating is probably only what you get under ideal circumstances (like the sun shining directly at the cell, under conditions of no smog and no clouds, etc.). Circumstances are rarely ideal. So you probably want to add a large fudge factor to make up for it. Maybe double the size of your solar cell to 10′ x 20′.
Now maybe you live in northern Alaska, for example, where you hardly get any sunlight at all during the winter, but the sun is up all day in the summer. That probably wouldn’t change your solar cell much, but you would require a much larger bank of batteries to last throughout the winter.
You can see that there are a lot of factors to weigh. Maybe if you’re going to spend a fortune building a solar system, you could shell out a little more for an extremely power-efficient computer.
September 20, 2007
10:41 pm
DIY: Given a solar panel and an electrical outlet, how do I power a fridge using solar with grid backup?
See http://gregable.com/2007/09/apartment-solar-what-is.html
I want to buy a solar panel and some other device X that will let me smoothly power appliances from X. X will use power from the solar panel first, and then from the grid if there isn’t enough. I don’t want a battery system due to the costs, if there is too much power from solar, I’ll just waste it in this system. What is X that I would need to buy or how would I build X?
Some of the answers so far pointed out that my plan is a bad one for cost reasons. I’m well aware that it isn’t going to save me any money. Leather seats in my car don’t make it go faster either. Still, I’m interested in playing with the technologies in a bigger way than a little toy car or something. The DIY part is the main interest, not the saving money or environment.
August 26, 2008
2:38 am
Is it feasible to put a small fridge on a solar panel grid?
August 31, 2009
4:57 pm
How do you connect a solar panel to your home grid?
I know you’d need a pretty serious power converter (110V 20A to what ever power the panel provides?), but what kind, and more importantly where would you actually connect it to your power grid (possibly turning the power off via the circuit breaker and connecting it there with some kind of diode?)
Someone’s not a DIY’er…
September 20, 2009
12:35 am
How much does power 1.5kW grid solar panel system produce in a month?
Based on an average home in Perth, Australia during winter. I need a rough estimate of how much power it will produce during a month~ thanks.
September 30, 2009
7:22 pm
What kind of solar panel would be sufficient to run my computer off the grid 24hrs a day?
Besides my refrigerator, the only other electrical device I leave running all day is my computer (cpu, monitor, modem, speakers). So to reduce my hydro bill, what kind of solar panel would be sufficient to run my computer off the grid 24hrs a day?
Thanks
Wow, thanks guys.
So I checked out local prices for solar panels. Turns out it would cost me roughly $5000 to have 1000watts of panels installed. With my current hydro bill, which I pay every other month, I would have to wait approximately 27 years before breaking even with the $5000 purchase.
They sure don’t make it easy for us to save the planet..