Nook Reporting

[NooK]

Just like to say hello,

I'm a newbie when it comes to any alternative energy, very interested ready to learn. Bought my dad a $70 solar panel from the local hardware store for fathers day. Hes gonna use it to keep his boat batteries charged over the winter, thats pretty much the extent of my solar knowlege today. Just looking for some general knowlege, looking for places to buy used panels, etc. I've looked all over the internet but there seems to be an overwhelming amount of sites selling panels etc, Not sure what to look for, whats good to start with.

Thanks for having me talk to you guys soon

[Jason]

Hi Nook,

Happy to have you here at Solar Panel Talk, thanks for registering.

There is a lot of good general knowledge about solar on the forum for you to read about. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! There are lots of friendly and helpful people on here.

Tell us more about what you'll be using the solar panels for, it will help in answering your question about what kind to get.

Thanks again!

[NooK]

solar goals

looking to start powering my home with solar power, fridge, stove, appliances, computers.

Thinking of buying a basic starter kit, or even buying used components and getting them to all work together. Something to build on, maybe get some computers going first, then the tv, then maybe a fridge.

any ideas or stories about systems, would be great to hear.

Thanks for having me

[Aussie Bob]

Hey nook

Welcome to SPT. You'll find heaps of good info around these here parts.

Do you want to use batteries to power your devices?

That's the great thing about small scale solar, is that you can start small, and scale your way up as you get the time and $$.

[Mike90250]

I'll just paste a response here, from another thread. Someone wanted to know what it
would take to run 4, 13w CFL bulbs 24/7

Answer was 500W of PV, and 160AH of battery. Math follows.

13W bulb, x 4each x 24hours

Well, at first glance, 4x13 = 52 watts consumed by 4 lights. A 45W panel will not do much for you.

To carry on anyway.
52W x 24 hrs = 1,248 watt hours consumed per day.

You need a solar panel that can replace that power in 5 hours of sunlight, and account for system losses. The easy way to account for system losses for battery based systems
is 50%. 1248 x 2 = 2496 (call it 2,500) divide by 5 hours = 500W of panels needed
Wow ! for just 4 lights, running 24/7

To size the battery:52w x 19hr = 988 (call it 1000)
1,000Wh / 12v = 84ah is what is consumed. To only discharge your battery to 50%,
you need a battery bank of about 160AH.

[NooK]

great info guys,thanks a bunch i will start reading up! thanks again.