Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dave's Solar Update:

Some quick additions to the earlier solar post.
In the following pics, you can see our temporary charge controller. This was a fun experiment when we first started learning about solar power and the components that go along with it. The setup we have has been providing steady light from a 13w CFL and a small fan with power during the night.


7amp charge controller that is rated for 7 15W panels, purchased from northern tool. Currently we only run 2 panels for a total of 30W. Convenient that it was small enough to bolt into a standard electrical box.











Here is one of the batteries. We had two dead car batteries laying around in the garage waiting to be recycled when I found out that Tractor Supply would take the cores and refund some $$$ of new batteries. Purchased two Stowaway 12V deep cycles. Each is 105 amp hours

2 comments:

The Scavenger said...

Man that is great. I love the thought of renewable energy. I need to work on my micro hydro power plant plans. Loved this post.

Chris

Dave said...

Thanks Chris, so far the small test renewable system has worked very well for us. Micro-hydro may be an option as well down the road with our small, but seasonal stream. Took a lot of reading and asking questions before deciding on a big 48V system but it will be able to grow with time and budget.