Re: Solar Power

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Posted by Zardoz on April 07, 2004 at 09:22:51:

In Reply to: Re: Solar Power posted by Permanent Tiller on April 06, 2004 at 18:48:24:

FYI: Two types of panels, Monocrystaline and Amorphous. Panels come in rigid and flexible.
If you want a small setup. Unisolar which makes
the amorphous panels in rigid and flexible make
the toughest panels but I have had no problems
with my Kyrocera monocrystaline panels. Amorphous
panels work better in the shade than monocrystaline panels. If I were going to spend
alot of time in shadier places I would get amorphous panels. In Death Valley the monocrystaline panels work fine. Get a good controller like a morningstar 15M prostar hook
it up with 10 gauge wire and fuse unit between
panel and solar controller and solar controller
and battery. Be sure to also fuse your battery
output if you are going to use a seperate battery. Make sure your controller has blocking
diodes in it so the circuit does not reverse at
night and feed power backwards. Thats about it
for solar. Costs are roughly. $550 for 125W solar
panel (kyrocera) and $160 for a good controller.
Get tin coated marine wire for the connections as
this will stand up to the desert corrosion wise. It should be 1 to 2 bucks a foot for dual conducter with a outdoor rated cover. It kinda looks like romex house wiring only more flexible.
Batteries can be flooded or AGM. Stay away from
Gel batteries. AGM batteries (like optima) have
many advantages like no fluid, no outgassing when
charging so they can be indoors without venting.
Flooded batteries are cheaper and more juice per
pound but require maintenance and venting when
charging. If you want 120V you can buy an inverter just be sure to put huge wire on it if
you expect to run a blender or something like that. Also very important to fuse hot wire to
inverter.