Question related to the wattage of Solar Panel?

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  • Yankie007
    Junior Member
    • Mar 2014
    • 3
    #1

    Question related to the wattage of Solar Panel?

    Hi,
    I don't have much knowledge related to Solar Power system. I am interested in purchasing a Solar Panel kit in order to run a home appliance I have which is a 120 Volt Portable Air Conditioner in my apartment. My question is would a 100 Watt Solar Panel be enough to run the home appliance above I just mentioned? With that, I believe I would probably need a Solar Charge Controller, a 12 Volt battery and a DC to AC Power Inverter? Can you please help me with these questions?
    Thanks in advance,
    Yannik
    PS, the power inverter has different wattage too and it's hard to tell how many Watts I need!!!
    Tags: kit, solar panel, watt
    • Mike90250
      Moderator
      • May 2009
      • 16020
      #2
      short answer = No.

      Look at the label on your air conditioner. it may say 350 watts or 120V 4 amps

      Your PV panel will only produce 80 watts under nearly ideal conditions, which are seldom
      found in the real world (like the EPA gas mileage numbers).

      It would take the solar panel charging the battery for 4 or 5 hours, to store enough power to
      run the air conditioner for 1 hour. Not very exciting.
      Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
      || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
      || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

      solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
      gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

        Comment

        • Sunking
          Solar Fanatic
          • Feb 2010
          • 23301
          #3
          It would be very foolish to take your air conditioner off grid and run it on solar. Just clear your mind that it would save you money because that is very far from reality. Used in th emanner you suggest some 20 time more than buying power from the electric company all up front in cash.
          MSEE, PE

            Comment

            • Yankie007
              Junior Member
              • Mar 2014
              • 3
              #4
              Originally posted by Mike90250
              short answer = No.

              Look at the label on your air conditioner. it may say 350 watts or 120V 4 amps

              Your PV panel will only produce 80 watts under nearly ideal conditions, which are seldom
              found in the real world (like the EPA gas mileage numbers).

              It would take the solar panel charging the battery for 4 or 5 hours, to store enough power to
              run the air conditioner for 1 hour. Not very exciting.

              Thank You very much for the fast reply Mike!
              As for the Solar Panel, I'm disappointed to hear that! :/ I really thought for some reason that a 100W Solar Panel would produce way more energy than that but I guess I was wrong!
              If I understand, it would take a lot of Watts from a Solar Panel in order to have enough power to run an appliance like that for a few hours (for ex: 4-5 hrs)? Is there another alternative that's cheaper or suggestions?
              Again, thanks in advance,
              Ps: Have you ever seen a solar air heater made with cans? I've seen a few person that did it on Youtube and it seems to work well!

                Comment

                • russ
                  Solar Fanatic
                  • Jul 2009
                  • 10360
                  #5
                  Originally posted by Yankie007
                  Have you ever seen a solar air heater made with cans? I've seen a few person that did it on Youtube and it seems to work well!
                  They do work and can work well - one of our past members had posted about building them.

                  www.builditsolar.com there are many types there.
                  [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

                    Comment

                    • Yankie007
                      Junior Member
                      • Mar 2014
                      • 3
                      #6
                      Originally posted by russ
                      They do work and can work well - one of our past members had posted about building them.

                      www.builditsolar.com there are many types there.
                      Thank You very much Russ for the link! What a cool website and a great tool to have!!

                        Comment

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