To see me buy and test out what a dirt-cheap SOLAR GENERATOR setup can run: th-cam.com/video/ELrQewHxjj0/w-d-xo.html PARTS (affiliate links) • 20W solar panel kit - amzn.to/48jZXFj • 12V 18Ah battery - amzn.to/3SGheTs • 150W inverter - amzn.to/48sUWKG • Adapter cable - amzn.to/3woDlGw In this video I tried to focus a bit more on storytelling (even though I don't really know the first thing about storytelling lol). Lemme know if you liked it 😄
First of all, another EXCELLENT video. Your production quality is next-level! The way the segments are laid out and how clearly you articulate each of the ideas makes it an absolute joy to watch the entire video. With that said, your timeline in this video is typical for those who are new to the idea of solar; buy some stuff and then see what it will power. I know YOU know this, but you always want to spec your system the exact opposite way. You want to identify your loads, including peak draw and total watt-hours of draw over a given time period. That's how you make your decision on both the inverter and the battery capacity. Once you know your battery capacity (and voltage) you can make a good decision on how much solar to bring in, which helps define which charge controller to buy. Great stuff, as always. :)
I already knew within 30s of clicking play this is a thumbs up. A simple solar related search on TH-cam is littered with garbage. Glad I found your video. Thank you very much.
For $173 Total- I was able to come up with a 12V, 20AH, 256WH LiFePo4 battery, 500 watt pure sine wave inverter and 50 watt solar panel and 10A Charge controller. Its worth the extra $73.00
Yes, in this field, a little bit more investment and deal hunting goes a long way. I got a Litheli solar charger at a discount for 100 euros (330 Wh battery, pure sine inverter, 100w usb-c port and some usb-a ports, car socket). On another deal, I got an Allpower 100w folding solar panel that has 100w usb-c output and a 5521 dc port. Ideal scenario, it can generate over 75 watts. Winter is coming, keep your eyes on deals.
Thats impressive. I've lived on limited power for two years now. You really get a feel for what you "need" and more importantly, what you can do without.
Excellent comment above. You’re correct, with limited power you learn what you can live without. In the 1980s lived at an off grid rural shack. A small windmill generator trickle charged a couple of old car batteries. This powered a functional, if gloomy indoor low voltage light 💡 system, a portable B&W 12 volt TV set, and a small radio / cassette sound system. We never ran out of power but made sure lights were not unnecessarily left on. That’s the good news. Everything else was non electrical and we read by candlelight. Fast forward to 2020. I use a portable solar generator of 240 v at 150 W. Can be charged at mains power (OPE = Other People’s Electricity); from my car when driving; and by solar panel. The last 2 mentioned are surprisingly effective. So what will it power. At 150 W not much for not long, but it will power a bright 240 v 8 W globe 💡 for hours. It provides about 4 or 5 recharges for my Nintendo DS XL. About 3 charges for my portable DVD player. I can use it on my portable computer for about 3 hours. It’s good for my hair trimmer. Etc. So it’s good for a range of “Micky 🐭 “ low wattage gadgets. This is great for one person but that’s about it.
For the price, it's a wonderful introduction for kids in science class or even the Boy/Girl Scouts. It would be a cheap yet effective system for light camping or at the beach.
I literally built this same exact setup 4 years ago lol. It is a fun project. Also you do not need an adapter for the inverter, just cut the plug off and splice directly to the wires.
This is the only guy that say how long it takes to charge something. Power banks, to car batteries. Most informative videos 👍. How bout car jump boxes?
It's not complicated to do the math. For a 10 000 mAh power bank, 10amps x 5 volts = 50 watts. If you have a 20 watt solar panel. Power bank 50 divided by panel 20. 50/20 = 2.5 hours to fully charge a power bank. (in perfect sunlight condition). You must take into consideration that power banks are charged 5 volts at 1 or 2 amps. That's 5 or 10 watts hours respectively. You can literally charge 2 power banks at the same time with a 20-watt solar panel in 5 hours.
Totally worth it if you have a small garden away from the house far enough to be too expensive to get power and still close enough that you can walk by feet. With a bigger battery and maybe a little beefier inverter it should be enough to power a small water pump once a day, some night lights and maybe once a week you can charge some power tools.
@@dabig77 not if you have to walk 10 minutes, and cord is not always the best solution. I am living in a small town there is one field split into small pieces every piece is a garden. I don't think the extension cord from the apartment building would be good idea
@@sirtimatbob buried cable is good alternative if you are the owner of land between both properties. Otherwise it is a huge paper mountain and that's expensive
Inverters are so inefficient that I just never use them. Since most devices you might want to run use a transformer that converts your house AC back to DC, and very often 12v DC, I just either buy or make a replacement cable to go 12v to 12v. USB is an easy adaptation from 12v as well. My CPAP machine for instance, will run about 10 hours using the inverter, but with a direct 12v to 12v connection, I can get up to 8 nights of sleep using my 505wh power station. I am hoping that one of these manufacturers will figure that out and make a more svelte version with all the bells and whistles but dump the useless (to me) inverter.
@@davidbroadfoot1864 it's due to the multiplicative nature of the loss, two 50% efficient part means 75% energy is lost. Most hardware i know is at least chain of 3-5 of such lossy converters. (Inverter-adapter-motor driver)
I see this as a good testbed to get into solar and get your feet wet, without breaking the bank. Something like this would work great for small USB devices (phones and maybe tablets), LED lighting, or any other small 110V devices you might have. Giving the basic math equations would certainly help people figure out what they can power safely and get a loose expectation of duration and with figuring out the limited solar charging you get from the small solar panel. A great intro video to solar power that should help people answer their own questions!
actually it would be great if you can also suggest another budget build with up to $150 to $200. I am sure some of the people who watch your video can afford a slightly more budget build.
Two things about the inverter: When it says 150Watts it means it can run 150Watts for a few seconds - not "all the time". Usually inverters are rated at about DOUBLE what their continuous output would be. In this case, your inverter shouldn't be connected to anything that draws more than 75 Watts. Another thing about the inverter is that your doesn't state it outputs "Pure Sine Wave". This means it will work on stuff like an LED-light, but most electronic devices with chips in them would probably fail. Also, the lead-acid battery won't like it if you draw more than (AxV/10) about 20 Watts as it would get quite hot if you draw much more than that.
Started with a single panel setup for garden pumps and lighting at night. Now im fully invested in a 48v system that can power my lights and a fridge/freezer if the grid goes down. This is a nice video for getting into the hobby. Learning about different battery chemistry, why higher voltage is better for distant setups, why an MPPT charge controller is better than a PWM solar charger, and how to properly/safely wire setups are all wonderful follow ups for beginners. For starters, learn to create your own wire lengths and have appropriate connectors thay work with distribution bars to clean up the wiring and reduce saftey issues
I've used this solar kit for powering my lights in my chicken pen. I had a 35ah AGM for longer discharge. It also ran a 12v Ceiling fan 24/7. I have another 20w top solar kit powering a 12v RV diagram pump installed on my 50 gal rain barrel collection. I use it to give water to my goats and pigs. It does a great job keeping the batteries topped off. I would recommend it for low power devices that are used sparingly.
Hey, that's a fun video you made. I do have inverter from your video. You should keep in mind that it's not 100% efficient. In fact if you measure AC inverter efficiency you will find out this somewhat terrible. At 13watts load it will consume 24watts from battery or 54% efficiency. That number will rise slowly as the load gets bigger, for example at 18watts load it will take 30watts from battery or 60%. You get the idea. Paired with the fact you should not discharge a lead-acid battery below 50% the total usable capacity is pretty terrible to be honest. But the first step improving that should be removing the AC from the chain. When building such tiny system you should power everything via DC-DC and that will bring you above 80% instantly. Second step would be using LiFePo4 battery instead of lead-acid. The changes proposed will double your usable capacity for the same money. Cheers.
I set up something similar recently. 2 important notes for someone who wants to do this too: - My battery is almost identical to the one in the video, the manual said to charge it fully _before_ pulling power from it. Don't damage your batteries unnecessarily :) - Take care in what order you connect things. My charge controller required me to connect the battery first
You should do more of these budget systems. I have a small cabin I go to every week and this is perfect. I only need to power a light bulb and charge my phone. Subscribing. I hope to see more.
I'm gona be honest, the video is short, simple, high quality, and you explain all the math and even provide some common knowledge figures and estimates for those that don't know about this kind of stuff (like me). Massive thumbs up, keep it up!
I like this setup. I use something similar when tent camping with my kids. It keeps our cell phones charged, and my led flashlights. We have a 12v stereo we listen to as well and this helps with that system. In an emergency, we would have power to at least have light and communications. I could also use this to keep my car battery fresh in the same emergency situation. I try to not use inverters, and only use lower voltage stuff that is close to the 12v battery supply- this helps eliminate waste when going from 12v up to 110v which makes heat and heat is wasted electricity.
If this is what you can afford then this is good. At least you can keep a light or two and recharge small things like battery bank or phone. Instead of a regular 60W regular light on this system I’d recommend a 4W USB string lights. 30 bucks but 4W and lights up a room decent in an outage and will last a long time.
Put it all together in a plastic container or attach it to a wooden platform with a handle and bracket/angle adapter for the solar panel. Instant portable energy supply anywhere in the world!
I'm loving my solar powered dusk to dawn lights around my home. I'm looking to do something just like this in which I'm will to go a little over on a panel, battery inverter etc. Well I already have a newly 1500 watt inverter for starters. I like this guy videos. Very interesting and informative. I'm subscribed bro. Thumbs-up.
Thanks for articulating this basic set up so simply! I'm slowly collecting bits and pieces based off your videos in order for me to build my own system. Thanks for the tip re the lithium batteries. I have a 3 season greenhouse as it can get to -50 where I am in winter and even fall temps are in the low minus weather. SLA I think will be a better solution for me.
My perspective is as a resident in Japan, where unpredictable natural disasters like earthquakes are unfortunately a fact of life. Every home is urged to have an emergency disaster kit with things like water, food, batteries, and even a “portable toilet”. Something like this would be extremely useful in a disaster shelter where electricity may be scarce and in demand. Scientists here expect a major quake (bigger than the 2011 one in Fukushima) within the next 30 years. And there are even bigger quakes possible within the next 50 years due to a geological phenomenon where most of Japan’s eastern coast sits on a series of tectonic fault lines that trigger catastrophic earthquakes every 90-150 years (documented as far back as 600AD). Those quakes are called “Nankai Trough Megathrust” earthquakes and might cause Mt Fuji to erupt. I’ll look into a setup like this for my own disaster kit. Thanks for the info!
I want to help a friend that lives in a challenging area where they have no electricity. He would be SO HAPPY to have light at night. His needs are very barbone and so is the budget. I think that a couple of 20w 12v lights for 6/8 hours a day would do... Would this setup do it? Or is it better to use the inverter like you did?
Not sure if you ever got your answer, but id probably avoid 20w 12v lights in general, 20w for 6-8 hours is well beyond what a small panel like shown is going to handle, or that battery will be viable for. Go for a car socket adaptor into a usb power plug. There are very nice usb powered hanging light bulbs that only pull 5w-8w. So 1) battery (lead acid if it needs to handle below freezing, otherwise lifepo4) 2) solar charge controller and solar panel 3) usb lightbulbs 4) car socket cables 5) usb car socket adaptor or inverter with usb ports or you can go full usb 1) usb portable battery (a 50k mah (about 170 watt hour) usb battery will run a 5w usb light for about 30 hours) 2) usb solar panel (a 20w usb solar panel will restore about 20 watt hours per hour of good sun) 3) usb lightbulbs
Cool and all, but there is something to note about the 12 volt fridge he plugged in. Many portable appliances may have a larger initial load that could overload that fuse... or you could take out the Charge controller if you drag the battery down too far.
This is perfect, I just need to do this for a gazebo out in the backyard that doesn't have any power line in the area. This would be great to run the LED lighting, but maybe up the solar panel.
Man I’m loving your style, I grew tired of the other soler guy. You should redo this sería every few months, I o see what you come up with today for $500
This would be great for an emergency backup during hurricane season or take with me camping as an emergency backup. Would easily fit in a compact container.
This seems worth it! Low investment and very simple for a beginner that's interested in getting a little knowledge and attempting a small project. Great breakdown on the basics of what to do, what to think about, and what you may need for an application like this.
I struggle understanding the pricing that people get into on stuff like this. I have access to local companies that sell bigger used residential used panels 250w or so in the 40$ range. They exist all over the place across the US. For my use case I drop the small inverter in favor of direct DC powering for chargers for phones, laptops, fans, and lighting. Save the money from inverter and buy 2 lawnmower sized batteries for 24v in series and you are off to the races. Heck little U1 batts are under 30$ brand new and you can find em for dirt cheap used on local pages. Even seen some folks score great deals on used RV batts but that could push out the budget. WAY more bang for your buck - way faster charging - going to last longer in regular capacity - cheaper on wire - will run way more during peak charging - also lead acid will be much happier with a few hours of recharge time vs 2-3 days. Not even a step up in budget. same budget 250w vs 20w.
Your suggested setup does ALL that...?! AND it even COMPLETELY misses the entire premise of the video! The ENTIRE point of the video was a budget, easy to setup and easy to use system any beginner could use to get started... Literally a few clicks on Amazon Where as a beginner like me has almost no idea what you're talking about.
@@Renvaar1989 Its gotta just be different chapters in life. Not doggin the vid - just genuinely stating I struggle to understand how folks get into the weeds when pricing these out like this. Its the human condition - genuinely you and I can start from the exact same position and end up in completely different conclusions and neither of us has a clue how the other got to where they are given the overarching objective. Its just spec comparison and shopping around to arrive at a different config man. Maybe its just getting snow blind from all the options. Or not knowing what you dont know? Its all in the instruction manuals tho. Spec sheet for the panel etc. Even as complete beginners we do that to get our bearings. Wiring up a residential panel and 24v batt isnt any harder than what he has done here. I don't think I've missed the point on that at all. And that is what is so cool about this stuff. It is actually super easy and really accessible when you break it down. I would encourage you to give it a shot AND to iterate it - share the journey too with others too :) its actually a lot of fun and you can do some really cool stuff. His configuration is not 'bad' or 'wrong' but you can get a LOT more bang for your buck if you go a little deeper. Edited for clarity 8/23/2024 - responded as tho renvaar was video poster.
I don't believe it has much practical value, but educational is great. I was kinda wondering what would happen if you plugged the panel directly into a 12v cell phone charger. They normally have a pretty wide range of voltages, and it might work!
Small setup good for charging things that already have batteries, flashlights , radios, Nintendo switch , phone , laptop, etc . Me personally I went with the runhood Rallye 600 swappable batteries and their nmc chemistry. Freaking love it anytime it goes to die I just replace the batteries with fully charged ones , pretty much endless power if you got the extra batteries and gear.
Liked your suggestions. Others may think some of the gizmos you charge up are in the ‘Micky 🐭 “ range, never underestimate the uses for cheap entertainment. I use my cheap 240 v 150 Amp solar generator to recharge my Nintendo DS XL (game cards: chess, solitaire; scrabble; 100 classic books; Chinese language learning program, etc); my portable DVD player; a mini computer; and even my hair trimmer. It will power an emergency bright light 💡 but low wattage globe for hours. The solar generator is basically just a cheap battery, but if off grid, it would be plenty of power for a range of low wattage and battery operated gizmos, at least for one person. After that, it’s limitations would be obvious. I can recharge it by car 🚙 (in transit) or solar panel or OPE (Other People’s Electricity mains power).
Forget the price tag, it does not seem to meet any basic needs. How long will it run the 12 volt mini fridge? 2 to 3 days to recharge the battery. Thanks for the video.
I've done some experimenting on this subject as well. Other potential uses are charging any kind of portable device such as a phone. For activities like camping this kind of thing could prove quite useful I think.
Love this video,i started learning with a 100 watt solar panel,that came with a solar charger,and 300watt inverter,and a used power wheels battery that I already had
Marine equipment is good for DIY battery setups. For a little more I got a nice multi socket adaptor with switches. It's more efficient to use 12v power if you can and bypass the inverter.... These days many things can run from 12v. Car cigarette sockets and USB are a great combo :) I use two car batteries with a similar setup to this.
I got a decent small solar set-up in my van for 200 bucks. A 240 W/h LiFePO4 battery 300 watt inverter and solar charge controller for $140, a 50 watt solar panel for $50, and a solar to DC7909 adaptor for $10.
In my opinion, it seems like a simple and meager setup like this might be a good option for power outages to just get the lights on and charge phones or charge those small plug-in hand-warmer devices. Things like cooking, heating, cooling of the entire house should be done some other way.
This could work for a camping setup where you started with a full battery and used the kit to power the stuff you showed. The big advantage to this small setup is price and easy enough to carry in a duffle bag.
Let me start by saying,thank you for the tutorial,I know nothing about these things, however for the equipment needed,it seems that items exist neatly housed and packaged ready to use ,but I'm a complete novice ...❤
You have probably figured out that the real cost in solar power is in the batteries. But, what you have can be expanded on, and that is exactly how I got started. The difference was that I found a battery company that replaces fleet truck batteries. They will sell you usable truck batteries for pennies on the dollar. The biggest use for small scale solar is to have some kind of power when camping or power outage. Even with that small battery, you can supply much more power during a sunny day. If you have 100 watts of panels, you can feed the battery, then draw up to the amount of charge the panels are charging the battery. That, will of course, fluctuate. The bottle neck will be in the long term after the sun goes down. I started out just taking my computer and phone chargers off-grid, and operating my ham radio QRP rig on the battery during the evening, as long as it lasted. When power did fail, I stratigically used it to keep communications running and a little LED lights in the room. Little by little, I've grown to handling a full 24 hour outage of essentials. Now I'm working on taking most of my apartment off-grid. It's hard to find someone to talk about small-scale solar because most of those doing solar don't consider those of us not taking our whole house or farm or business off-grid. RV is closer to what we do, but still bigger systems. Thanks for sharing.
How much watt inverter can we connect with a 12V 200Ah Lead Acid battery for good life? I am using the battery-inverter combo as an alternative power source like an UPS
A 100w flex panel connected to a small lithium power station with mppt and small buck converter for USB fan is what I have , the fan doubles for the swamp cooler also. It all cost about $215 with tax and everything else but the shipping sucked .
you can check your local battery distributor and there's a good chance that they will have some blems/blemished/superficial damage full sized car or deep cycle batteries for around the same price as that battery. that's where i always get my replacement car batteries. basically they are batteries that got a tiny scuff mark, or the handle broke off, or something along those lines that maybe doesn't look pretty, but has no negative impact on the function of the battery. but since it doesn't look perfect, they can't sell it to the local stores, so they will sell it at a discount to anyone, 40-60% off is pretty common but sometimes you can get an even better deal than that
This is a great video - thank you! So many of these simple installations get bogged down as the presenter actually installs it in a building/shed. But you kept it simple...just laying everything out on the floor. I have a question about the choice of lead acid. The price is right, but other videos on the topic say it's the worst type of battery for a solar setup as these batteries are not supposed to be deep drained. I can think of a use case for this setup - a small garden water feature. Pumps can pull a lot of power so it would need to be small, and you can buy submersible 12V pumps really cheaply. So maybe you could create a follow-on video that also has a light sensor that would switch off the pump when it gets dark.
If all you used it for was charging USB devices, it would work pretty well even with a small solar panel. For lighting I would invest in USB rechargeable lanterns or other lighting accessories that don't draw much current. Add everything inside a $10 ammo can. Put everything inside except for the solar panel. Permanently hardwire all the connections to the battery and make sure it's all fused
I have a question with this. My non gaming laptop uses a 45 watt power supply. I doubt it uses that regularly but curious what I would need to power a relatively low powered laptop such as it?
Why did you connect the inverter directly to the battery and not via the power output of the solar control unit? Does a direct connection make a difference? Thanks great video
Fun and informative video! All-in-one solar generators do keep getting cheaper though! Right now there's a Powerstream branded solar generator on Amazon rated at 167Wh @100 watts with a lithium battery, two plugs/three USB plugs and some DC output plugs for $110. It also comes with a 30 watt rated foldable solar panel. Is it any good? If you trust the ratings, it is. IMO, the best way to save lots of money is if you're going for a lot more power. Rolling your own system for whole house power is going to be way cheaper than buying the big powerful solar generators. If you're just looking to power/charge the items in the video, than buying a small all-in-one solar generator rather than cobbling one together is probably the best way to go (less chance for crossed/sparked wires too!).
excellent price, this seems a bit more convenient (price wise) than buying something like the anker products, that you still have to charge from your house or something powered already. of course the setup is a lot bigger but it works!
I'd say for the price it is not worth it, because it's worth going a bit over that budget for. I probably wouldn't use anything smaller than a setup with a 100w panel
Big question how can I power my home with solar power without connecting it to the circuit breaker do you have any videos on that I have a house that has an upstairs and a downstairs built apartment within the house
Hey I have a lead acid deep cycle 190wh battery, I like to get a solar charger that can charge that battery approximately one day any suggestions. under $100
If you want to make a product that sells... I suggest a solar powered space heater. Like solar powered lights. Everything included, that includes the caution of handling the outdoor solar panel for the indoor safespace heater. New name & idea.
To see me buy and test out what a dirt-cheap SOLAR GENERATOR setup can run: th-cam.com/video/ELrQewHxjj0/w-d-xo.html
PARTS (affiliate links)
• 20W solar panel kit - amzn.to/48jZXFj
• 12V 18Ah battery - amzn.to/3SGheTs
• 150W inverter - amzn.to/48sUWKG
• Adapter cable - amzn.to/3woDlGw
In this video I tried to focus a bit more on storytelling (even though I don't really know the first thing about storytelling lol). Lemme know if you liked it 😄
You could have skipped the adapter cable
Easily...@@RahulMohall2000
A small fan, a small light slowly recharge your phone....
You shouldn't discharge a lead-acid battery by more than 50%, so you can halve that 18Ah.
Do same experince simlar budget with AliExp or Alibaba
First of all, another EXCELLENT video. Your production quality is next-level! The way the segments are laid out and how clearly you articulate each of the ideas makes it an absolute joy to watch the entire video. With that said, your timeline in this video is typical for those who are new to the idea of solar; buy some stuff and then see what it will power. I know YOU know this, but you always want to spec your system the exact opposite way. You want to identify your loads, including peak draw and total watt-hours of draw over a given time period. That's how you make your decision on both the inverter and the battery capacity. Once you know your battery capacity (and voltage) you can make a good decision on how much solar to bring in, which helps define which charge controller to buy. Great stuff, as always. :)
100% correct Jason. Best to determine your energy needs and then size everything based on that. Thanks for the comment!
I already knew within 30s of clicking play this is a thumbs up. A simple solar related search on TH-cam is littered with garbage. Glad I found your video. Thank you very much.
Well said brother
I hate to say it, but this is kinda garbage too. It's clearly a better attempt though.
For $173 Total- I was able to come up with a 12V, 20AH, 256WH LiFePo4 battery, 500 watt pure sine wave inverter and 50 watt solar panel and 10A Charge controller. Its worth the extra $73.00
Can you share details/links to your setup?
Could you share which components you used?
Yes, in this field, a little bit more investment and deal hunting goes a long way.
I got a Litheli solar charger at a discount for 100 euros (330 Wh battery, pure sine inverter, 100w usb-c port and some usb-a ports, car socket).
On another deal, I got an Allpower 100w folding solar panel that has 100w usb-c output and a 5521 dc port. Ideal scenario, it can generate over 75 watts.
Winter is coming, keep your eyes on deals.
@@SonnyDarvish Sweet deals! Thanks for sharing your recipe
Actual 500 watt? I think I paid twice that for the inverter I run my small AC off of.
Thats impressive. I've lived on limited power for two years now. You really get a feel for what you "need" and more importantly, what you can do without.
Excellent comment above. You’re correct, with limited power you learn what you can live without.
In the 1980s lived at an off grid rural shack. A small windmill generator trickle charged a couple of old car batteries. This powered a functional, if gloomy indoor low voltage light 💡 system, a portable B&W 12 volt TV set, and a small radio / cassette sound system. We never ran out of power but made sure lights were not unnecessarily left on. That’s the good news. Everything else was non electrical and we read by candlelight.
Fast forward to 2020. I use a portable solar generator of 240 v at 150 W. Can be charged at mains power (OPE = Other People’s Electricity); from my car when driving; and by solar panel. The last 2 mentioned are surprisingly effective.
So what will it power. At 150 W not much for not long, but it will power a bright 240 v 8 W globe 💡 for hours. It provides about 4 or 5 recharges for my Nintendo DS XL. About 3 charges for my portable DVD player. I can use it on my portable computer for about 3 hours. It’s good for my hair trimmer. Etc. So it’s good for a range of “Micky 🐭 “ low wattage gadgets.
This is great for one person but that’s about it.
Can you give me more details on mains power? How exactly does one find that@@penguinvic9892
For the price, it's a wonderful introduction for kids in science class or even the Boy/Girl Scouts. It would be a cheap yet effective system for light camping or at the beach.
I think its amazing what you're doing on your channel man, keep up the great work and please as always keep em coming !
Thank you!
I literally built this same exact setup 4 years ago lol. It is a fun project. Also you do not need an adapter for the inverter, just cut the plug off and splice directly to the wires.
This is the only guy that say how long it takes to charge something. Power banks, to car batteries. Most informative videos 👍.
How bout car jump boxes?
It's not complicated to do the math. For a 10 000 mAh power bank, 10amps x 5 volts = 50 watts. If you have a 20 watt solar panel. Power bank 50 divided by panel 20. 50/20 = 2.5 hours to fully charge a power bank. (in perfect sunlight condition). You must take into consideration that power banks are charged 5 volts at 1 or 2 amps. That's 5 or 10 watts hours respectively. You can literally charge 2 power banks at the same time with a 20-watt solar panel in 5 hours.
@@jacquespoirier216 thank you.
Totally worth it if you have a small garden away from the house far enough to be too expensive to get power and still close enough that you can walk by feet. With a bigger battery and maybe a little beefier inverter it should be enough to power a small water pump once a day, some night lights and maybe once a week you can charge some power tools.
Extension cord from the house is even cheaper
@@dabig77 not if you have to walk 10 minutes, and cord is not always the best solution. I am living in a small town there is one field split into small pieces every piece is a garden. I don't think the extension cord from the apartment building would be good idea
@@ernestsbrigis1004buried cable could be an alternative to look at. I do think this video shows a good alternative as well
@@sirtimatbob buried cable is good alternative if you are the owner of land between both properties. Otherwise it is a huge paper mountain and that's expensive
Inverters are so inefficient that I just never use them. Since most devices you might want to run use a transformer that converts your house AC back to DC, and very often 12v DC, I just either buy or make a replacement cable to go 12v to 12v. USB is an easy adaptation from 12v as well.
My CPAP machine for instance, will run about 10 hours using the inverter, but with a direct 12v to 12v connection, I can get up to 8 nights of sleep using my 505wh power station.
I am hoping that one of these manufacturers will figure that out and make a more svelte version with all the bells and whistles but dump the useless (to me) inverter.
Wow.. so you are saying you get about 8*8 = 64 hours using direct DC-DC, but only 10 hours with an inverter? That's about an 85% loss.
For the CPAP machine do you have an adapter for the plug?
@@davidbroadfoot1864 it's due to the multiplicative nature of the loss, two 50% efficient part means 75% energy is lost. Most hardware i know is at least chain of 3-5 of such lossy converters. (Inverter-adapter-motor driver)
I see this as a good testbed to get into solar and get your feet wet, without breaking the bank. Something like this would work great for small USB devices (phones and maybe tablets), LED lighting, or any other small 110V devices you might have. Giving the basic math equations would certainly help people figure out what they can power safely and get a loose expectation of duration and with figuring out the limited solar charging you get from the small solar panel. A great intro video to solar power that should help people answer their own questions!
actually it would be great if you can also suggest another budget build with up to $150 to $200. I am sure some of the people who watch your video can afford a slightly more budget build.
I started out with a 40 watt panel, i now have four 450 watt panels.
I’m impressed!! Pretty good for the budget
I thought so too!
Two things about the inverter: When it says 150Watts it means it can run 150Watts for a few seconds - not "all the time". Usually inverters are rated at about DOUBLE what their continuous output would be. In this case, your inverter shouldn't be connected to anything that draws more than 75 Watts.
Another thing about the inverter is that your doesn't state it outputs "Pure Sine Wave". This means it will work on stuff like an LED-light, but most electronic devices with chips in them would probably fail.
Also, the lead-acid battery won't like it if you draw more than (AxV/10) about 20 Watts as it would get quite hot if you draw much more than that.
Started with a single panel setup for garden pumps and lighting at night. Now im fully invested in a 48v system that can power my lights and a fridge/freezer if the grid goes down. This is a nice video for getting into the hobby.
Learning about different battery chemistry, why higher voltage is better for distant setups, why an MPPT charge controller is better than a PWM solar charger, and how to properly/safely wire setups are all wonderful follow ups for beginners.
For starters, learn to create your own wire lengths and have appropriate connectors thay work with distribution bars to clean up the wiring and reduce saftey issues
Could you do another video upgrading the parts used in this video? I think that would be a good idea and a fun video!!
I think this would be a great idea as well! Currently upgrading as I learn and this is about where I am at the moment!
I think it worth the price, you can easily use with it a larger panel in order to charge the battery faster.
I've used this solar kit for powering my lights in my chicken pen. I had a 35ah AGM for longer discharge. It also ran a 12v Ceiling fan 24/7. I have another 20w top solar kit powering a 12v RV diagram pump installed on my 50 gal rain barrel collection. I use it to give water to my goats and pigs. It does a great job keeping the batteries topped off. I would recommend it for low power devices that are used sparingly.
Hey, that's a fun video you made. I do have inverter from your video. You should keep in mind that it's not 100% efficient. In fact if you measure AC inverter efficiency you will find out this somewhat terrible. At 13watts load it will consume 24watts from battery or 54% efficiency. That number will rise slowly as the load gets bigger, for example at 18watts load it will take 30watts from battery or 60%. You get the idea. Paired with the fact you should not discharge a lead-acid battery below 50% the total usable capacity is pretty terrible to be honest.
But the first step improving that should be removing the AC from the chain. When building such tiny system you should power everything via DC-DC and that will bring you above 80% instantly. Second step would be using LiFePo4 battery instead of lead-acid.
The changes proposed will double your usable capacity for the same money. Cheers.
I set up something similar recently. 2 important notes for someone who wants to do this too:
- My battery is almost identical to the one in the video, the manual said to charge it fully _before_ pulling power from it. Don't damage your batteries unnecessarily :)
- Take care in what order you connect things. My charge controller required me to connect the battery first
You should do more of these budget systems. I have a small cabin I go to every week and this is perfect. I only need to power a light bulb and charge my phone.
Subscribing. I hope to see more.
I'm gona be honest, the video is short, simple, high quality, and you explain all the math and even provide some common knowledge figures and estimates for those that don't know about this kind of stuff (like me). Massive thumbs up, keep it up!
Important.
Thanks for letting me know. Always disconnect the solar array before disconnecting anything else when disassembling the kit
I like this setup. I use something similar when tent camping with my kids. It keeps our cell phones charged, and my led flashlights. We have a 12v stereo we listen to as well and this helps with that system. In an emergency, we would have power to at least have light and communications. I could also use this to keep my car battery fresh in the same emergency situation. I try to not use inverters, and only use lower voltage stuff that is close to the 12v battery supply- this helps eliminate waste when going from 12v up to 110v which makes heat and heat is wasted electricity.
If this is what you can afford then this is good. At least you can keep a light or two and recharge small things like battery bank or phone. Instead of a regular 60W regular light on this system I’d recommend a 4W USB string lights. 30 bucks but 4W and lights up a room decent in an outage and will last a long time.
Put it all together in a plastic container or attach it to a wooden platform with a handle and bracket/angle adapter for the solar panel.
Instant portable energy supply anywhere in the world!
I'm loving my solar powered dusk to dawn lights around my home. I'm looking to do something just like this in which I'm will to go a little over on a panel, battery inverter etc. Well I already have a newly 1500 watt inverter for starters. I like this guy videos. Very interesting and informative. I'm subscribed bro. Thumbs-up.
Thanks for articulating this basic set up so simply! I'm slowly collecting bits and pieces based off your videos in order for me to build my own system. Thanks for the tip re the lithium batteries. I have a 3 season greenhouse as it can get to -50 where I am in winter and even fall temps are in the low minus weather. SLA I think will be a better solution for me.
I'll be using this setup for our offgrid water pump house! Stoked!
What a great video. I’m subscribing and will now go back and binge on your other videos. Thank you, from Wales, UK 😊
My perspective is as a resident in Japan, where unpredictable natural disasters like earthquakes are unfortunately a fact of life. Every home is urged to have an emergency disaster kit with things like water, food, batteries, and even a “portable toilet”. Something like this would be extremely useful in a disaster shelter where electricity may be scarce and in demand.
Scientists here expect a major quake (bigger than the 2011 one in Fukushima) within the next 30 years. And there are even bigger quakes possible within the next 50 years due to a geological phenomenon where most of Japan’s eastern coast sits on a series of tectonic fault lines that trigger catastrophic earthquakes every 90-150 years (documented as far back as 600AD). Those quakes are called “Nankai Trough Megathrust” earthquakes and might cause Mt Fuji to erupt.
I’ll look into a setup like this for my own disaster kit. Thanks for the info!
I want to help a friend that lives in a challenging area where they have no electricity.
He would be SO HAPPY to have light at night.
His needs are very barbone and so is the budget.
I think that a couple of 20w 12v lights for 6/8 hours a day would do...
Would this setup do it?
Or is it better to use the inverter like you did?
Not sure if you ever got your answer, but id probably avoid 20w 12v lights in general, 20w for 6-8 hours is well beyond what a small panel like shown is going to handle, or that battery will be viable for. Go for a car socket adaptor into a usb power plug. There are very nice usb powered hanging light bulbs that only pull 5w-8w.
So
1) battery (lead acid if it needs to handle below freezing, otherwise lifepo4)
2) solar charge controller and solar panel
3) usb lightbulbs
4) car socket cables
5) usb car socket adaptor or inverter with usb ports
or you can go full usb
1) usb portable battery (a 50k mah (about 170 watt hour) usb battery will run a 5w usb light for about 30 hours)
2) usb solar panel (a 20w usb solar panel will restore about 20 watt hours per hour of good sun)
3) usb lightbulbs
Cool and all, but there is something to note about the 12 volt fridge he plugged in. Many portable appliances may have a larger initial load that could overload that fuse... or you could take out the Charge controller if you drag the battery down too far.
Can't wait to see the budget solar generator setup vid.
This is perfect, I just need to do this for a gazebo out in the backyard that doesn't have any power line in the area. This would be great to run the LED lighting, but maybe up the solar panel.
Man I’m loving your style, I grew tired of the other soler guy. You should redo this sería every few months, I o see what you come up with today for $500
This would be great for an emergency backup during hurricane season or take with me camping as an emergency backup. Would easily fit in a compact container.
Bro!! I already knew all you explained, and even with that I enjoyed it so much!!!!
He could have cut the inverter wires and stayed under budget, but who's counting a few dollars. Nice and simple overall. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
This seems worth it! Low investment and very simple for a beginner that's interested in getting a little knowledge and attempting a small project.
Great breakdown on the basics of what to do, what to think about, and what you may need for an application like this.
I struggle understanding the pricing that people get into on stuff like this. I have access to local companies that sell bigger used residential used panels 250w or so in the 40$ range. They exist all over the place across the US. For my use case I drop the small inverter in favor of direct DC powering for chargers for phones, laptops, fans, and lighting. Save the money from inverter and buy 2 lawnmower sized batteries for 24v in series and you are off to the races. Heck little U1 batts are under 30$ brand new and you can find em for dirt cheap used on local pages. Even seen some folks score great deals on used RV batts but that could push out the budget. WAY more bang for your buck - way faster charging - going to last longer in regular capacity - cheaper on wire - will run way more during peak charging - also lead acid will be much happier with a few hours of recharge time vs 2-3 days. Not even a step up in budget. same budget 250w vs 20w.
Your suggested setup does ALL that...?! AND it even COMPLETELY misses the entire premise of the video!
The ENTIRE point of the video was a budget, easy to setup and easy to use system any beginner could use to get started... Literally a few clicks on Amazon Where as a beginner like me has almost no idea what you're talking about.
@@Renvaar1989 Its gotta just be different chapters in life. Not doggin the vid - just genuinely stating I struggle to understand how folks get into the weeds when pricing these out like this. Its the human condition - genuinely you and I can start from the exact same position and end up in completely different conclusions and neither of us has a clue how the other got to where they are given the overarching objective. Its just spec comparison and shopping around to arrive at a different config man. Maybe its just getting snow blind from all the options. Or not knowing what you dont know? Its all in the instruction manuals tho. Spec sheet for the panel etc. Even as complete beginners we do that to get our bearings. Wiring up a residential panel and 24v batt isnt any harder than what he has done here. I don't think I've missed the point on that at all. And that is what is so cool about this stuff. It is actually super easy and really accessible when you break it down. I would encourage you to give it a shot AND to iterate it - share the journey too with others too :) its actually a lot of fun and you can do some really cool stuff. His configuration is not 'bad' or 'wrong' but you can get a LOT more bang for your buck if you go a little deeper. Edited for clarity 8/23/2024 - responded as tho renvaar was video poster.
@@razzix2 Why are you talking to me like a made the video?
@@Renvaar1989 banged out the comment without reading the context. totally confused this with another thread. will edit for clarity.
I don't believe it has much practical value, but educational is great. I was kinda wondering what would happen if you plugged the panel directly into a 12v cell phone charger. They normally have a pretty wide range of voltages, and it might work!
Small setup good for charging things that already have batteries, flashlights , radios, Nintendo switch , phone , laptop, etc . Me personally I went with the runhood Rallye 600 swappable batteries and their nmc chemistry. Freaking love it anytime it goes to die I just replace the batteries with fully charged ones , pretty much endless power if you got the extra batteries and gear.
Liked your suggestions. Others may think some of the gizmos you charge up are in the ‘Micky 🐭 “ range, never underestimate the uses for cheap entertainment. I use my cheap 240 v 150 Amp solar generator to recharge my Nintendo DS XL (game cards: chess, solitaire; scrabble; 100 classic books; Chinese language learning program, etc); my portable DVD player; a mini computer; and even my hair trimmer. It will power an emergency bright light 💡 but low wattage globe for hours.
The solar generator is basically just a cheap battery, but if off grid, it would be plenty of power for a range of low wattage and battery operated gizmos, at least for one person. After that, it’s limitations would be obvious. I can recharge it by car 🚙 (in transit) or solar panel or OPE (Other People’s Electricity mains power).
Best use i can see for this is charging usb devices. Good news is phones,lights,fans,usb battery banks,all could operate or charge from this set up.
And laptops.
Good job man. I learned. Commenting to support your chan-chan. Hoping good things for you!
Forget the price tag, it does not seem to meet any basic needs. How long will it run the 12 volt mini fridge? 2 to 3 days to recharge the battery. Thanks for the video.
You can just let it charge there and use it in case of emergency
charging a laptop with a $105 setup is pretty cool, thanks! charging the battery in 2-3 days seems rough, but it would be better than nothing
bro where you been I've been looking for a vid just like this for so long
I've done some experimenting on this subject as well. Other potential uses are charging any kind of portable device such as a phone. For activities like camping this kind of thing could prove quite useful I think.
Can I use this for a heating pad for dogs or cats outdoors?
Love this video,i started learning with a 100 watt solar panel,that came with a solar charger,and 300watt inverter,and a used power wheels battery that I already had
Awesome video, great idea and I love the follow-through with the actual real-life potential of the charged battery. Great job!
Marine equipment is good for DIY battery setups. For a little more I got a nice multi socket adaptor with switches. It's more efficient to use 12v power if you can and bypass the inverter.... These days many things can run from 12v. Car cigarette sockets and USB are a great combo :) I use two car batteries with a similar setup to this.
Great way to approach much more complex set ups. Cool content
Great video. I really want to learn about solar, so this is an excellent starting point.
good explanation video for beginner solar setup for people wanting to learn more.
You know the crazy part is it took this video to get me to understand this system
Exactly the video i was looking for
Bro I wanna try your solar plan budget, I gotta test it out here on isolated island by following your instructions.
What do % mean in the calculation? Maybe battery capacity charge? 6:16
Efficiency of the inverter
Kinda of a neat project to see how things work which is really important. Not practical you need to spend more to get something useful.
😊 keep up with the good job about your videos
I got a decent small solar set-up in my van for 200 bucks. A 240 W/h LiFePO4 battery 300 watt inverter and solar charge controller for $140, a 50 watt solar panel for $50, and a solar to DC7909 adaptor for $10.
Cute custom setup 😊
sure worth it for some specific ideas like camping and stuff but not really daily usable
In my opinion, it seems like a simple and meager setup like this might be a good option for power outages to just get the lights on and charge phones or charge those small plug-in hand-warmer devices.
Things like cooking, heating, cooling of the entire house should be done some other way.
This could work for a camping setup where you started with a full battery and used the kit to power the stuff you showed. The big advantage to this small setup is price and easy enough to carry in a duffle bag.
Let me start by saying,thank you for the tutorial,I know nothing about these things, however for the equipment needed,it seems that items exist neatly housed and packaged ready to use ,but I'm a complete novice ...❤
At 6:17 - why did you divide by 50%? Only 50% is usable power? Confused on this part.
You can only discharge led acid batteries to 50%.
Thank you @@mattdg1981
You have probably figured out that the real cost in solar power is in the batteries. But, what you have can be expanded on, and that is exactly how I got started. The difference was that I found a battery company that replaces fleet truck batteries. They will sell you usable truck batteries for pennies on the dollar. The biggest use for small scale solar is to have some kind of power when camping or power outage.
Even with that small battery, you can supply much more power during a sunny day. If you have 100 watts of panels, you can feed the battery, then draw up to the amount of charge the panels are charging the battery. That, will of course, fluctuate.
The bottle neck will be in the long term after the sun goes down.
I started out just taking my computer and phone chargers off-grid, and operating my ham radio QRP rig on the battery during the evening, as long as it lasted. When power did fail, I stratigically used it to keep communications running and a little LED lights in the room. Little by little, I've grown to handling a full 24 hour outage of essentials.
Now I'm working on taking most of my apartment off-grid.
It's hard to find someone to talk about small-scale solar because most of those doing solar don't consider those of us not taking our whole house or farm or business off-grid. RV is closer to what we do, but still bigger systems.
Thanks for sharing.
Do you have a link for your 12v mini fridge?
How much watt inverter can we connect with a 12V 200Ah Lead Acid battery for good life? I am using the battery-inverter combo as an alternative power source like an UPS
Very cool, thanks for the math and advice. Very helpful for me (one who knows little)
In a few years that lead acid could be replaced with a sodium battery instead.
I like ur videos,very pratical n simple 👍🏽
Of course its worth it👍 works great and valuable experience
A 100w flex panel connected to a small lithium power station with mppt and small buck converter for USB fan is what I have , the fan doubles for the swamp cooler also. It all cost about $215 with tax and everything else but the shipping sucked .
you can check your local battery distributor and there's a good chance that they will have some blems/blemished/superficial damage full sized car or deep cycle batteries for around the same price as that battery. that's where i always get my replacement car batteries.
basically they are batteries that got a tiny scuff mark, or the handle broke off, or something along those lines that maybe doesn't look pretty, but has no negative impact on the function of the battery. but since it doesn't look perfect, they can't sell it to the local stores, so they will sell it at a discount to anyone, 40-60% off is pretty common but sometimes you can get an even better deal than that
This is a great video - thank you! So many of these simple installations get bogged down as the presenter actually installs it in a building/shed. But you kept it simple...just laying everything out on the floor. I have a question about the choice of lead acid. The price is right, but other videos on the topic say it's the worst type of battery for a solar setup as these batteries are not supposed to be deep drained. I can think of a use case for this setup - a small garden water feature. Pumps can pull a lot of power so it would need to be small, and you can buy submersible 12V pumps really cheaply. So maybe you could create a follow-on video that also has a light sensor that would switch off the pump when it gets dark.
If all you used it for was charging USB devices, it would work pretty well even with a small solar panel. For lighting I would invest in USB rechargeable lanterns or other lighting accessories that don't draw much current. Add everything inside a $10 ammo can. Put everything inside except for the solar panel. Permanently hardwire all the connections to the battery and make sure it's all fused
The question is not " can it " it's " how long does it take "
I have a question with this. My non gaming laptop uses a 45 watt power supply. I doubt it uses that regularly but curious what I would need to power a relatively low powered laptop such as it?
Why did you connect the inverter directly to the battery and not via the power output of the solar control unit? Does a direct connection make a difference? Thanks great video
For a lamp, a phone, and a laptop, yes, it's worth it.👍👍
Good deal, I may use this setup to put some lights in 2 sheds that I have.
Fun and informative video! All-in-one solar generators do keep getting cheaper though! Right now there's a Powerstream branded solar generator on Amazon rated at 167Wh @100 watts with a lithium battery, two plugs/three USB plugs and some DC output plugs for $110. It also comes with a 30 watt rated foldable solar panel. Is it any good? If you trust the ratings, it is.
IMO, the best way to save lots of money is if you're going for a lot more power. Rolling your own system for whole house power is going to be way cheaper than buying the big powerful solar generators. If you're just looking to power/charge the items in the video, than buying a small all-in-one solar generator rather than cobbling one together is probably the best way to go (less chance for crossed/sparked wires too!).
excellent price, this seems a bit more convenient (price wise) than buying something like the anker products, that you still have to charge from your house or something powered already.
of course the setup is a lot bigger but it works!
Good job please make more video look like that thank you so much ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Would be great if you could showcase something we can do with power packs we already have for example.
I'd say for the price it is not worth it, because it's worth going a bit over that budget for. I probably wouldn't use anything smaller than a setup with a 100w panel
as a total newb whos not electric savvy, id also like to see a $200 and $500 version of this vid. Informative tho, thanks
Will this be able to constant run a bilge pump day and night ?
Big question how can I power my home with solar power without connecting it to the circuit breaker do you have any videos on that I have a house that has an upstairs and a downstairs built apartment within the house
Hey I have a lead acid deep cycle 190wh battery, I like to get a solar charger that can charge that battery approximately one day any suggestions. under $100
I got a Renogy 50w panel for 40 bucks .
Worth the price as an educational science experiment, not as a survival or emergency tool.
If you want to make a product that sells... I suggest a solar powered space heater. Like solar powered lights. Everything included, that includes the caution of handling the outdoor solar panel for the indoor safespace heater. New name & idea.
I would love to set up a wire shelving unit as a mini indoor greenhouse and run the uv lights (and maybe heating pads) off this setup.
Doesn't the voltage rating of the solar panel need to be a bit higher than the voltage of the battery in order to properly charge it?
Can you tell me what I need to charge my e-bike from solar charging within 4-6 hours?