12 V solar with wind or other system?

[tenthdegreesunbelt]

I am planning on constructing an earthbag home off-grid and hope to complement solar with wind (the latter for winters). I only want to be able to charge a laptop, phone, lights, radio, and small appliances like that so I think the minimalist 12 V solar package fits that description but wouldn't I be better off opting for the 12 V solar power without a battery microsized system? Does the ultra portable plug-n-play solar generator system also fit my criteria, presumably because it doesn't come with batteries either? Finally, are all of these systems still more expensive than the the 2000 W, 24 V off grid solar system even if I just want to power a few small appliances that I listed?

 

[snoobler]

Your requirements are too vague. Conduct an energy audit, link #1 in my signature

Determine your available solar in link #5 in my signature.

 

[sunshine]

Will's minimalist 12v system is a good place to start even if a ebay 100w pv+pwm and 150w modified sine wave can inverter hooked up to the car battery, 12v mini-minimalist??, would be enough to charge your phones and laptop at less than $200.
Beginning, and staying at 12V, using individual components makes it easily expandable without too much component redundancy cost with each upgrade.

 

[pollenface]

If buying on ebay you'll notice a 100w panel costs roughly the same as a 250w one.

I recommend NOT getting a $10 "run of the mill" regulator from ebay as it will hold your battery at 14.6v all day every day and shorten it's life. I killed two 130ah AGM's this way (learning experience). They are good for camping & occasional use when you need bulk power but not 365 days a year.

I highly recommend an MPPT controller if you can afford it, or if you want to save a few bucks get at least a PWM controller of a reputable brand (epever/morningstar/renology) with a 3-4 stage charge program.

An MPPT with often allow you to run a high voltage solar panel as it will do it's own dc-dc conversion to supply the appropriate voltage to your battery which is handy for generating power on a cloudy day, excess volts are converted to amps.

You will find a lot of mislabeled "run of the mill" voltage regulators on ebay if you search for an MPPT controller, so if you're unsure you can run it by us (on this forum) first.

If going PWM, choose a controller that is 125% the short circuit current (Isc) of your solar panel, otherwise 10amp MPPT allows you to use about 130w with 12v battery.