So I started my solar foray with a Harbor Freight kit, but have a few questions..

[brickie]

Well I bought a 100 watt kit along with a solar 25ah battery from Harbor Freight. Cost was essentially $50 for everything due to a nice gift card settlement..that's another story though. I have installed it on the roof of my shed and it seems to be working decently. Just want to really know if what I'm doing can be done with this setup. I know HF solar panels are frowned on ,but cost was free so hopefully not to bad a deal,lol.

I want to run essentially 3 led lights(8 watt draw each) and have enough juice to raise the door of shed when I need to get in it. It's a roll up door like you see in storage units with a roll up electric opener attached to it. The 2 lights on outside of solar run dusk to dawn , and light in ceiling of shed is on a light switch for whenever I need light inside at nighttime. That's it, period! No running tools, or anything like that. The inverter I'm using is a 410 watt,800 max Schumacher. Hope that was spelled right. Right now using just 1 battery from HF, but wondering if I should get a bigger one. Just want to avoid problems if possible. I could get these below in link for $100 roughly new. Would it be a good option to ensure enough power storage .

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wayne-75-Amp-Hour-Maintenance-Free-Battery-WSB1275/100661339

I know you guys from reading don't like the HF solar kit, but hoping it's enough to do these few things in my shed. What do you guys think?

[SunEagle]

Hello brickie and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

That 25Ah battery can safely provide about 75watt hours each day (25Ah x 12V x .25 = 75wh). Even those 3 x 8 watt lights could eat into that 75wh a lot if you run them over night. My fear is that door motor will quickly drain the battery unless you are using at Noon time and getting the best charging you can from the solar panels. If you are only using the battery to run it then IMO it will be toast in a few months.

The biggest issue with HF equipment is that they just don't last long. As an experiment into solar pv you have spent very little. But to get a worth while system you will need to invest in better solar panels and a bigger battery.

[brickie]

Thanks for honest opinion of course. Just the 2 outside lights run dusk to dawn. The 3rd light is on a switch that I put in just in case I need light inside at night if I'm in there. Really shed is a "garage" for my zero turn. Would that battery I linked to improve things?

Door opener would get used 3-4 times per week during season. Probably not at all in winter. Could even throw outside lights on motion sensor so they only run on motion.

I know a better system is ultimate answer, but my cost is almost nil, so hoping a battery upgrade might put me where I need to be.

[SunEagle]

Thanks for honest opinion of course. Just the 2 outside lights run dusk to dawn. The 3rd light is on a switch that I put in just in case I need light inside at night if I'm in there. Really shed is a "garage" for my zero turn. Would that battery I linked to improve things?

Door opener would get used 3-4 times per week during season. Probably not at all in winter. Could even throw outside lights on motion sensor so they only run on motion.

I know a better system is ultimate answer, but my cost is almost nil, so hoping a battery upgrade might put me where I need to be.

I did not look at the battery that you linked. I will say a good battery needs to be a true "deep cycle" or a couple of 6v golf cart batteries.

Now the bigger problem is that you need enough charging amps to keep a battery system happy. A good example of an FLA battery would be a C/10 charge rate where C = Amphour rating at 20hr.

I am not sure what those HF panels can produce but more than likely they total about 5 charging amps. That would limit you to a 50Ah battery. If you increase the battery size you will also need to increase the panel wattage and possibly the charge controller.

In the meantime you can play with your system and see how it works and lasts. When you decide to build a better system please come here first and ask your questions before you open your wallet.

I just checked on that HD battery. It looks like a pretty sturdy 75Ah AGM type which will get you a lot more in the way of watt hours then the 25ah one. Unfortunately you will have to increase your solar panel wattage to maybe 200 watt to keep that 75Ah happy.