200W Shed install, charging yard tools.

[sethile]

Just finished my first Spring pass at the yard using my new Ego Lawn Mower and Blower. I charged the batteries yesterday with the shed system I installed in January. And then recharged the depleted batteries after working for a couple of hours. Yesterday was sunny, but today was mostly cloudy, so I was interested how things would go after working with them today. After an hour the tool batteries are fully charged, and the 12V 100AH SOK LifeP04 is back to 100%! I did not expect that! And the tools work great, I don't smell like gas, and neither does my shed!

Here are some pics of my set up from yesterday, which was nice and sunny:


I built an insolated box for the battery and put a 12W 12V heating pad under it, controlled by a thermostat, which easily kept it between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius on coldest days this winter. If anyone is interested, here is the list of equipment I used for this installation:

• HQST 200W Polycrystalline Solar Panel Kit-2 100W Panels+20A MPPT
• 12V SOK 100AH LifePO4 battery
• GoWISE Power 1500W Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter 12V DC to 120 V AC with 3 AC Outlets, 1 5V USB Port, 2 Battery Cables, and Remote Switch (3000W Peak)
• Blue Sea Systems 5025 ST Blade Fuse Block
• WindyNation ANL Fuse Holder + ANL Fuse (2pcs 200A Fuse)
• 4x 12v LED Interior Light Bars to light the shed
• Cigarette Lighter Socket 12V Splitter with Rocker Toggle Switch, Dual Quick USB 3.0 (Just to have an option for charging other devices)
• For the insolated battery box:
  *Digital LED Temperature Controller Module, XH-W3001 Thermostat Switch with Waterproof Probe
  *GAOHOU Hive Electric Heater Plate Beehive,Silicone Heating Heater Mat
• T Tocas 25 Amp Surface-Mount Circuit Breaker
• ANL Fuse Holder + ANL Fuse (2pcs 200A Fuse)

If any of you are thinking about converting to electric yard tools and charging them with solar, I can highly recommend it!

 

[iamrich]

Love the cutting board control panel! Nice work!

 

[Tony S]

I second the cutting board panel. Nice! BTW - It was the first thing that jumped out at me in the second picture. GRIN
Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Where are you located? So we can compare how much sun you get vs us.

 

[WYtreasure]

I'm still shoveling leftover blizzard snow. I'm just gonna pout ?‍ while you show off your new stuff.

I think he's in beautiful, warm Kentucky.

 

[sethile]

Where are you located? So we can compare how much sun you get vs us.

I'm still shoveling leftover blizzard snow. I'm just gonna pout ?‍ while you show off your new stuff.

I think he's in beautiful, warm Kentucky.

Yes, Western Kentucky!
That little 200W shed setup is more than enough for keeping up with the yard tools. Even on cloudy days... When I've done yardwork in the mid to late afternoon on partly sunny days the tool batteries and the system battery have been fully charged before dark. Even when it was nearly dark when I finished working, everything is charged up a couple of hours after the sun hits the panels the next morning.

It's also a pleasure working with the tools, never having to mix fuel or fill tanks, no hard starts, not having to ware hearing protection, no starting to do yardwork only to realize you don't have enough gas to finish it... And not have the shed smell like gasoline all the time!

 

[WYtreasure]

Yes, Western Kentucky!
That little 200W shed setup is more than enough for keeping up with the yard tools. Even on cloudy days... When I've done yardwork in the mid to late afternoon on partly sunny days the tool batteries and the system battery have been fully charged before dark. Even when it was nearly dark when I finished working, everything is charged up a couple of hours after the sun hits the panels the next morning.

It's also a pleasure working with the tools, never having to mix fuel or fill tanks, no hard starts, not having to ware hearing protection, no starting to do yardwork only to realize you don't have enough gas to finish it... And not have the shed smell like gasoline all the time!

I'm near here and still gonna whine ? while being impressed with your accomplishments. Someone needs to share your techniques with the folks around here. When we have a lawn to mow, we have sun.

So, you were out mowing your lawn & I was wishing I was you. Saturday's forecast = snow.

 

[sethile]

My wife's Mom and Step father live in Worland, and have for many years. Her step dad grew up there, and my wife spent her summers there as a teenager... WY is a beautiful state! We visit once a year or so, and have passed through Casper several times. Unless you're watering constantly you almost certainly use yard tools less than I do , but during the summer you sure have plenty of sun to power them if you want!

Our Spring is later than usual this year, but things are perking up nicely now... We are coming into to the season where f I don't mow twice a week I won't be able to tell where the house is

Love the cutting board control panel! Nice work!

I second the cutting board panel. Nice! BTW - It was the first thing that jumped out at me in the second picture. GRIN
Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Thanks, guys! Cheap cutting boards work fantastic for electrical projects! I generally buy them at Big Lots or one of the Dollar stores.

Here's another somewhat more refined example where I used a cutting board for the electrical panel on my sailboat (BTW, the solar install for the boat was what started me down the path that lead to the shed, and then to the house):

 

[sethile]

We visit once a year or so, and have passed through Casper several times.

I meant to write we've passed through Gillette several times... My brother-in-law lived there for a couple of years in between stints in Sheridan, where he lives now.

 

[WYtreasure]

I must agree with the points made about gasoline & yard equipment. It is a smelly pain in the butt.

That's a nice setup you have but I wonder about the cutting board & burning characteristics. I'm not trying to be annoying. We know the wood will ignite and how it will burn.

Hopefully I am looking at a shadow in this pic:

 

[sethile]

That's a nice setup you have but I wonder about the cutting board & burning characteristics. I'm not trying to be annoying. We know the wood will ignite and how it will burn

The cutting board is High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), which is apparently a "non flammable, non reactive solid with no odor". There is plenty of wood around, including the plywood I mounted the inverter etc.. on.. And the box I made for the battery is too, although I lined that with non-flammable insulation.

Yes, that's a shadow... I just went and looked, and it was there all right, and it IS alarming, until you move the PV wire and see it disappear. Phew!

 

[gdawg]

Thanks for sharing, and I am planning on a similar project. What is the rationale on using a 200W system vs just a single 100W panel? Just the speed to charge the battery?

Second, I've got a two 100 ah AGM batteries in my garage doing nothing. Could I use both to just give me more capacity in this type of setup?

 

[Supervstech]

I meant to write we've passed through Gillette several times... My brother-in-law lived there for a couple of years in between stints in Sheridan, where he lives now.

We stayed in Sheridan at a hotel there… the clerk looked at us funny when we signed in…

Our last name is Sheridan…

 

[pollenface]

I like it

 

[sethile]

Thanks for sharing, and I am planning on a similar project. What is the rationale on using a 200W system vs just a single 100W panel? Just the speed to charge the battery?

I didn't run the numbers, other than calculating what it would take for the inverter to power up to three of the EGO chargers (with a little head room to spare). I only use the yard tools twice a week at most, even in peak season. Based on how this system has performed so far, a single 100W panel would handle charging the yard tools and the lighting for the shed just fine.

My goal for this system was to have some extra potential for charging mobile devices, and maybe a portable solar generator. In other words, I wanted it to have some head room, and to be expandable. If I did it again, I'd buy a larger SCC so I could easily add more panels.

Second, I've got a two 100 ah AGM batteries in my garage doing nothing. Could I use both to just give me more capacity in this type of setup?

YES! Those would work great! I'm all for using what I already own, and the battery was almost half the cost of this installation.

Assuming those are 12V AGMs, and still have good capacity, and you install a 12V system (like this one is), you could wire them in parallel giving you 200AH at 12V. That would give you about the same usable capacity as my 100 AH 12V LifePO4, (LifePO4 chemistry can be discharged much lower than AGM without compromising the life cycles).

I'm currently scheming on buying, or DIYing an electric outboard motor to replace the 5 HP gasoline outboard I currently have for auxiliary power on my sailboat. Thinking about installing an solar array on the dock at the marina that I could plug into a 48V SCC and battery bank on the sailboat to power the electric outboard. I have three 250W panels left over from the house system I can use for this if I can figure out how install them and still get the boat in and out of the slip (and also so as not to annoy my neighbors).

I have a single 100W panel on the boat now, which barely keeps up with the modest 12V systems. I'd love to add more solar directly on the boat, but it's only a 25' monohull with very little unencumbered real estate to work with.

At this point I have WAY more solar schemes than I have sunny real estate for

 

[tomy2]

Looks nice there in Kentucky and you have water for a lawn. In California they are banning lawns. I just landscaped my lawn down to about 400 square feet. I have a similiar setup to yours, with 2 200 watt panels and two 100 AH lifepo batteries in series. My math sucks, so maybe someone can tell me if I figured it right. The two batteries give me 100 amps at 25 volts or 2500 watts, or 2000 watts usable per night. I have a booster pump that draws 13amps at 120v, so it will use 1560 watts/hour. At the most it will kick on four times at night for 15 minutes. So it will draw 1560 watts/night and I have 2000 watts available, assuming nothing else is on at night. Does this math sound right? it hurt my head to figure it.

 

[sethile]

Looks nice there in Kentucky and you have water for a lawn. In California they are banning lawns. I just landscaped my lawn down to about 400 square feet.

Yes! It couldn't be more different! We moved here from San Diego where I grew up and where most of my family still live. They've all converted their landscaping to draught resistant plants and in most cases their "lawns" are amazingly realistic looking Astroturf. They've also installed sophisticated and efficient drip irrigation for their veggie gardens and fruit trees to comply with the conservation measures and still grow some food.

We never even have to water here to have a lawn (mostly mowed weeds in my case). Our main problem here is defending our yards from all the lush vegetation trying to take them back. I seldom even have to water my veggie garden. This Spring has been extremely rainy. I have a sump pump that gushers water out from our crawl space, and our front yard turns into a lake during heavy downpours. Wish we could send you'll some water!!

I have a similiar setup to yours, with 2 200 watt panels and two 100 AH lifepo batteries in series. My math sucks, so maybe someone can tell me if I figured it right. The two batteries give me 100 amps at 25 volts or 2500 watts, or 2000 watts usable per night. I have a booster pump that draws 13amps at 120v, so it will use 1560 watts/hour. At the most it will kick on four times at night for 15 minutes. So it will draw 1560 watts/night and I have 2000 watts available, assuming nothing else is on at night. Does this math sound right? it hurt my head to figure it.

Sounds like a great setup!

Yes, your math does sound right. But my head for math is highly suspect, and using it to its limited potential makes my head hurt too

 

[tomy2]

Yes! It couldn't be more different! We moved here from San Diego where I grew up and where most of my family still live. They've all converted their landscaping to draught resistant plants and in most cases their "lawns" are amazingly realistic looking Astroturf. They've also installed sophisticated and efficient drip irrigation for their veggie gardens and fruit trees to comply with the conservation measures and still grow some food.

We never even have to water here to have a lawn (mostly mowed weeds in my case). Our main problem here is defending our yards from all the lush vegetation trying to take them back. I seldom even have to water my veggie garden. This Spring has been extremely rainy. I have a sump pump that gushers water out from our crawl space, and our front yard turns into a lake during heavy downpours. Wish we could send you'll some water!!


Sounds like a great setup!

Yes, your math does sound right. But my head for math is highly suspect, and using it to its limited potential makes my head hurt too

I wonder if anyone else has an opinion of my math calculation?

 

[Supervstech]

I wonder if anyone else has an opinion of my math calculation?

Math works out, should leave 400ish Wh in the bank