Sunforce 50048 60W Solar Charging Kit <-------- is this any good?

[john marker]

here is my idea: i have a good sized shed out back and i want to turn it into a temporary work shop until i can build a bigger one on a concrete slab. i dont want to run 200 ft of direct burial out there for just a few years of use. Yeah it`ll take me that long if not longer to build. so i was looking at going solar and if it works well, i would use a bigger system on the new building as well.
for the temp. shop i just need enough 110/120 volts to run a small air compressor (1/2 hp motor) a couple lights, and a drill and grinder. i would only be running the lights and compressor or drill and compressor at one time. not a whole lot of demand. i can`t find anywhere what i can actually do with a 200 watt inverter. i plan on 1 battery and adding a second one later if i need it. i just need a small space to work on things easier as my business takes up my whole 2.5 car garage. the air compressor is just for tires and a blow nozzle, it isn`t big enough for air tools. if i buy all the things i need separately it is really expensive. i need to start small. being in Florida i figure we get a ton of sun and solar should be easy to use. i found this kit in Northern tool and on amazon. but no real reviews that hit on what i want to do. any thoughts?

[Naptown]

Not much with that kit
The inverter is capable of a draw of just over 1-1/2 amps at full load
Your grinder is at least double that most drills are about 5 amp until you get to the heavy duty 1/2" then higher.

I suggest running the wire it will work better and probably be less expensive.

[john marker]

i cant run wire without permit , inspection and so on. that is costly here. i have been reading a few other posts and see what i need to do is buy separate one thing at a time. i have time to do this as the shed is not even cleaned out yet and it is full. i do have a 1/2 " drill too. just trying to figure out what would actually run on a 200 watt inverter except a light bulb and a cell phone charger.

[SunEagle]

Unfortunately that 60 watt kit is almost useless except to run a couple of small wattage lights. Not worth spending anything on it.

Also your compressor, grinder and drill motor draw a lot more than a 200 watt inverter can provide. By the time you purchase the inverter, batteries, solar panels and charge controller you will end up spending a few thousand dollars.

It might not make sense to run the power line to the shed for even a couple of years but it will end up costing you a whole lot less than using solar to run the equipment you want.

Going off grid generally costs 10 times what you would spend using your house power. Most of that is in up front equipment costs and is much more then running a power line for your equipment.

[john marker]

i assume that i should forget going solar for the main building as i run 3-phase 240 off of my 7.5 hp rotary phase converter. i could imagine the battery bank that would need for 30 amps of 3-phase.

[Naptown]

Grid tie solar on the main building may make perfect sense.
Since there are no batteries which are the biggest expense and an ongoing one this can actually achieve a return on the investment.

[SunEagle]

i assume that i should forget going solar for the main building as i run 3-phase 240 off of my 7.5 hp rotary phase converter. i could imagine the battery bank that would need for 30 amps of 3-phase.

The major cost of an off grid system is the batteries. Having a grid tie system does pay for itself depending on your electric costs and size of the system.

Most people beleive that they can run equipment that draws over a 1000 watts using a single battery but they truely underestimate what a load like that will need in panels and battery size.

Running your compressor off of a solar battery system doesn't make economical sense. If running the house power out to the shed is not what you want then maybe using a small 2000 watt generator would get your power needs met for less. I am just trying to keep you from spending money on a system that will not be cost worthy.

[john marker]

i have studied about the tie ins and those look cool. when i run cable out to the new building i will run a 100 amp sub panel off of the main from the house, direct burial 240. i thought then i could move the other solar system over to run lights and other small things. i could even disconnect the inverter and use it to run a poll saw from the tractor around the yard, as it is electric. right now out in the shed i wont be out there every day doing something. mostly just hand tools and the little homemade air compressor to inflate the mower tires. run the compressor for about 4-5 mins, dont need much for the tires. other than that i will use hand tools mostly. anything big projects like my welder i`ll keep in the garage until new building is done.

[john marker]

i understand and really appreciate the fact about not wasting money. i really do. i would like to start small and then add on to it. there is something about generating your own power that is very rewarding. ever since we ran a black and white tv off of an old inverter in our chevy blazer in the 1980s on long trips i wanted to do something like this.

[SunEagle]

i have studied about the tie ins and those look cool. when i run cable out to the new building i will run a 100 amp sub panel off of the main from the house, direct burial 240. i thought then i could move the other solar system over to run lights and other small things. i could even disconnect the inverter and use it to run a poll saw from the tractor around the yard, as it is electric. right now out in the shed i wont be out there every day doing something. mostly just hand tools and the little homemade air compressor to inflate the mower tires. run the compressor for about 4-5 mins, dont need much for the tires. other than that i will use hand tools mostly. anything big projects like my welder i`ll keep in the garage until new building is done.

A small solar panel system will be good enough to run some lights and low wattage tools but that 60 watt system won't last very long and costs a lot of money for very little in output. Better to purchase the parts of a system that are sized for your needs.

Check out the attached post about sizing batteries. Follow the steps and it will get you close to what you want and a pretty good idea of the costs.

http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?5334-Solar-Off-Grid-Battery-Design

[john marker]

thanks for the link. like i said before i can take my time and really research this as i`m in no hurry to clean out the shed as it is still blazing out there. i also belong to a few websites where i earn amazon gift cards and paypal money that i can use for this. takes a long time to earn a lot, but i dont have to take away from our normal money. i used those sites to buy the stuff to build my front end loader. took 1 and half years but was worth not shelling out all the money at once.

[SunEagle]

thanks for the link. like i said before i can take my time and really research this as i`m in no hurry to clean out the shed as it is still blazing out there. i also belong to a few websites where i earn amazon gift cards and paypal money that i can use for this. takes a long time to earn a lot, but i dont have to take away from our normal money. i used those sites to buy the stuff to build my front end loader. took 1 and half years but was worth not shelling out all the money at once.

Just follow the advice and ask questions before you purchase something that will be a dead end.

I jumped in with both feet to build a small off grid system for emergency power after a hurricane before I really understood what I was doing. I spent over $2000 for a system that will run about 300 to 400 watts of equipment but could have done it for close to half if I had done some research first. Take my word for it read, learn and ask questions before you spend.

[john marker]

you bet, and thanks again. i`m reading the battery link now. really good stuff. that would be another benefit of the solar is after one of our hurricanes we could keep our food good in the freezers and fridge without having to go buy gas (if they even had any left) for a generator. i was going to get an inverter ( 3000 or 5000 watt) to run off of my truck in case of that same scenario. then i thought why not have a solar cell charge the battery and so on.

[russ]

John, For what you really seem to want an LPG generator and a good sized tank will be by far the most reliable and cheapest route.

In stormy conditions around hurricane times there often isn't much sun.

[FloridaSun]

for the temp. shop i just need enough 110/120 volts to run a small air compressor (1/2 hp motor) a couple lights, and a drill and grinder. i would only be running the lights and compressor or drill and compressor at one time. not a whole lot of demand. i can`t find anywhere what i can actually do with a 200 watt inverter. i plan on 1 battery and adding a second one later if i need it. i just need a small space to work on things easier as my business takes up my whole 2.5 car garage. the air compressor is just for tires and a blow nozzle, it isn`t big enough for air tools. if i buy all the things i need separately it is really expensive. i need to start small. being in Florida i figure we get a ton of sun and solar should be easy to use. i found this kit in Northern tool and on amazon. but no real reviews that hit on what i want to do. any thoughts?

Hi John, I have a 600w system with 24v, 200Ah batteries for similar shop use as you would like.
If you buy things separately it is really expensive?? That 60w sunforce kit costs over $4 a watt at fleabay's $265 price and nearer $5 @ watt other places, I see. Spending twice that amount, say under $600 could get you 300w of panels and a quality 15a MPPT controller. That's 5 times the power for twice the price and you're getting quality parts, not the shorter lived thin film panels and crappy PWM controller.
Start with a 24v system if you can, adding batteries is not a good idea, you would be replacing one batt for two new ones if not done quickly. 3-400w 24v true sine inverters can be found for under $200, 24v chargers around $200 also. Each item could be purchased 2-300 bucks at a time if need be.
For filling tires I use my trusty 20+ year old 12v compressor bought from harbor fright of all places. Still works fine. My 18v Ryobi tools have never been charged from the grid, only solar, and have worked very well for many things, circular saw for construction, sawzall for pruning branches up to 6 inch thick, hedge trimming, drilling, screw driving, etc. They even have a small compressor for their One+ system. Just purchased the angle grinder so can't detail it's power yet but if it's as good as the other tools it will be fine and much easier than dragging out 150ft of extension cord to some rusty bolts on a sagging 12 ft gate way out back that needs rehanging after 25 years.
If you plan on running just one fridg you will need a much bigger system. Nothing economical about it. Read all the stickies in off grid section here, figure your watt use and plan from there. You just may find that running underground 120v wire much cheaper than solar.
Good luck, be safe