diy solar

diy solar

New member from California

WDB

New Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2023
Messages
25
Location
So. California
Hello, my name is Wayne.
I live in the Mojave Desert, and have just started to collect items for an off-grid setup.
I first got interested in Solar power over thirty years ago, I was a subscriber to Home Power magazine from about issue #10.

My first experience playing around with solar was when i bought some 1' square Amorphous Silicon cells and made small panels with them, I got some surplus Johnson Controls sealed lead acid batteries for storage, I lived in an apartment at the time so I was only doing stuff like running small electronics off them, luckily my back porch faced south. When I moved a few years later I bought an old Itasca class A motor home and added some solar panels to it, I got some used Arco panels from the Carrizo solar farm, they were a little bronzed but still worked, I think I was getting about 34 watts each out of them, in 1994 new panels were really expensive so it was a lot cheaper to go used. I used 6 volt golf cart batteries for storage, they were cheap at about $40 dollars each, I had a 2000 watt modified sine wave inverter for some not so great AC power. I bought my house a few years later and I gave the motor home to my brother.

Well now I want to set up something, decent, I bought some Sharp 220 watt panels several years back that have just been sitting in my shed, I bought a cheap all in one 48 volt Inverter last year and a ground mount, my older brother gave me some batteries and I bought a BMS for them. I am just waiting for nicer weather so I can get a small building for them built, I want to make sure if there ever is a fire that it stays contained, it will either be concrete block or metal. I am sure once I get it all up and running that I will want to upgrade the inverter to something higher end.
 
Welcome to the forum, you will have plenty of sun for your solar panels in the Mojave Desert. Last couple in months in Riverside have been really sad for solar with all the rain. Not complaining, everything is really green and nice as result.
Feel free to ask questions.
 
Welcome.

"Batteries ... BMS"?
Do you mean cells? If lithium, a few things to learn, many threads here.
 
I was a subscriber to Home Power magazine from about issue #10.
I loved Richard Perez and Kathleen Shultze.
Used to read everything they wrote trying to make Solar break even.
Wasn’t until recently that I did it.

Solar panel in those days was $500 for 100watt panel.
It was only for hard core off grid folks then.

Glad it has become more economical.
 
Welcome to the forum, you will have plenty of sun for your solar panels in the Mojave Desert. Last couple in months in Riverside have been really sad for solar with all the rain. Not complaining, everything is really green and nice as result.
Feel free to ask questions.

Thanks, it has been the same here, lots of rain and cloudy, cold days with a few light snow flurries. It is supposed to hit 60 tomorrow here.
 
I loved Richard Perez and Kathleen Shultze.
Used to read everything they wrote trying to make Solar break even.
Wasn’t until recently that I did it.

Solar panel in those days was $500 for 100watt panel.
It was only for hard core off grid folks then.

Glad it has become more economical.
The adds in the back of the magazine were great for finding deals, I paid $400 for 80 watt panels for my motorhome when my used Arco panels were replaced. My Sharp 220 watt panels I have were $168 each when I bought them, I thought that was really cheap at the time but now they are really cheap.
 
Hello, my name is Wayne.
I live in the Mojave Desert, and have just started to collect items for an off-grid setup.
I first got interested in Solar power over thirty years ago, I was a subscriber to Home Power magazine from about issue #10.

My first experience playing around with solar was when i bought some 1' square Amorphous Silicon cells and made small panels with them, I got some surplus Johnson Controls sealed lead acid batteries for storage, I lived in an apartment at the time so I was only doing stuff like running small electronics off them, luckily my back porch faced south. When I moved a few years later I bought an old Itasca class A motor home and added some solar panels to it, I got some used Arco panels from the Carrizo solar farm, they were a little bronzed but still worked, I think I was getting about 34 watts each out of them, in 1994 new panels were really expensive so it was a lot cheaper to go used. I used 6 volt golf cart batteries for storage, they were cheap at about $40 dollars each, I had a 2000 watt modified sine wave inverter for some not so great AC power. I bought my house a few years later and I gave the motor home to my brother.

Well now I want to set up something, decent, I bought some Sharp 220 watt panels several years back that have just been sitting in my shed, I bought a cheap all in one 48 volt Inverter last year and a ground mount, my older brother gave me some batteries and I bought a BMS for them. I am just waiting for nicer weather so I can get a small building for them built, I want to make sure if there ever is a fire that it stays contained, it will either be concrete block or metal. I am sure once I get it all up and running that I will want to upgrade the inverter to something higher end.
Hi neighbor! Also in Mojave here.
 
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