diy solar

diy solar

Solar Size

remmon

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Feb 8, 2020
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Please i want to know what it will take to power 50 smart phones of 10W each, a standing fan of 50W and three solar bulbs of 10W each, running from 8am - 9pm daily with sunlight from 8am - 4:30pm daily.This i mean the solar panel, inverter,battery & charge controller ratings or better still what solar generator rating can power it. thanks
 
Please i want to know what it will take to power 50 smart phones of 10W each, a standing fan of 50W and three solar bulbs of 10W each, running from 8am - 9pm daily with sunlight from 8am - 4:30pm daily.This i mean the solar panel, inverter,battery & charge controller ratings or better still what solar generator rating can power it. thanks

Hi - you might want to move this post to the SIZING and PLANNING section and not in the COMPLAINT Section -- i think more ppl will see it there. Thx
 
Here's a start for your consideration. A great deal of your expense is in time shifting (battery storage). If your use case can be limited to daylight hours, you can save some $.



How many watts do you need, total?

50 smart phones of 10W each = 500 watts. How efficient are your chargers? Are they pulling 10w or only putting out 10w after converting? This important question is not addressed by the "assume 25% conversion losses" statement below.

standing fan of 50W = 50W

and three solar bulbs of 10W each, = 30W

Total 580W (rounding up to 600) x 13 hours daily = 7800W daily.

Assume 5 hours of insolation (aka peak solar generation hours)

7800÷5=1560 watts "per hour" intake, minimum.

Assume 25% conversion losses. Round that up to 2000 watts "per hour", minimum.

You can add more solar panels to get more solar during off-peak (morning & evening) insolation hours. The benefit will vary by your location & weather patterns, but will likely reduce your dependence on batteries during these hours. Importantly, you cannot expect a solar panel to put out its rated power, even at peak. You'll likely get around 60% of it's rated peak.
 
Here's a shorter / different take, but it does NOT take batteries into consideration - it assumes no storage and works only during insolation hours:

500w for the phones + 50w for the fan +30w for the lights = (roughly) 600w usage.

So plan on about 1000 watts of panels + a charge controller, to start.
 
Here's a shorter / different take, but it does NOT take batteries into consideration - it assumes no storage and works only during insolation hours:

500w for the phones + 50w for the fan +30w for the lights = (roughly) 600w usage.

So plan on about 1000 watts of panels + a charge controller, to start.
Thanks Sparky for your suggestion but do you think this will work? i mean only solar panel and charge controller, no inverter?
 
Whether you need an inverter depends on the method you're using to power the appliances. You likely need some form of inverter / converter to make the 12v from the solar panels available to usb for the phones. Strictly speaking, a dc-dc change of voltage is done by CONverter, not an INVerter, but neither one is free and at 600w, the cost difference may not be much.

Is the fan 12v? Are the lights 12v?
 
Whether you need an inverter depends on the method you're using to power the appliances. You likely need some form of inverter / converter to make the 12v from the solar panels available to usb for the phones. Strictly speaking, a dc-dc change of voltage is done by CONverter, not an INVerter, but neither one is free and at 600w, the cost difference may not be much.

Is the fan 12v? Are the lights 12v?
Yeah they are
 
...adding because you may not have considered... you'll also need wires, bus bars, fuses, etc. That can easily add $50 or over $100 to the cost of install, and you may not have tools, so that expense also adds quickly, though you might luck out at a pawn / second-hand store.

So if your fan & lights are 12v, they won't need an inverter, but you'll want to keep the wires short to avoid voltage drop.
 
...adding because you may not have considered... you'll also need wires, bus bars, fuses, etc. That can easily add $50 or over $100 to the cost of install, and you may not have tools, so that expense also adds quickly, though you might luck out at a pawn / second-hand store.

So if your fan & lights are 12v, they won't need an inverter, but you'll want to keep the wires short to avoid voltage drop.
Thanks Sparky. This is great.
 
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