Solar Lighting

[marksouth]

I thought you needed a controller to step the solar panel down from 17 volts.let me know if it works without it, might have wasted money on one

 

[SunYeti]

Sorry it's sunday my work brain was turned off.

Look at these

You'll need all three components but basically you'll end up with a small solar panel, a car type battery, and an AC inverter (solar panels put out DC power)

The only drawback is that you will need to purchase a relatively expensive battery like this one so that it can run a light for the amount of time you need. But if you have no power there something like this may be your only option.

The battery amazon suggests to put with that solar panel would last about 10 minutes running a light bulb at 110v ac. If you could find a DC light 12V and say 75 watts, you could get by without buying an AC inverter and not have to have such an expensive battery.

If you want to run other appliances, getting a big battery, a big panel, and an inverter makes a lot of sense. If you just want some light, might I suggest a solar lighting kit? Cheaper, easier, and simpler. If you want more details, check out this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...arn-about-preventing-a-drop-in-egg-production

Full disclosure: I wrote that article for BYC, and I make the solar lights I discuss in it.

 

[marksouth]

It's nice to consider a site sponser and I'm all for it but they are a bit pricey and for us tinkerers we can save some money doing it ourselves. I got a 45 watt panel and deep discharge battery that will last for days of cloudy weather plus a digital timer for less. I do wish I had known about the LED full spectrum bulb discussed in an earlier post.

 

[SunYeti]

It's nice to consider a site sponser and I'm all for it but they are a bit pricey and for us tinkerers we can save some money doing it ourselves. I got a 45 watt panel and deep discharge battery that will last for days of cloudy weather plus a digital timer for less. I do wish I had known about the LED full spectrum bulb discussed in an earlier post.

As a tinkerer gone pro, I can definitely sympathize! As with pretty much all things, you will generally save money if you make a solar light yourself from scratch (assuming you use comperably sized parts and get good deals on them; shipping can be killer when you need a lot of bits and pieces). And, you might enjoy it more than putting together a kit if you like to tinker and troubleshoot.

That being said, a 45 watt panel is way overkill. If you have good, efficient 12V LEDs you can get away with 20 watts, or maybe even 5. What kind of LEDs are you going to use?

 

[dc3085]

If you want to run other appliances, getting a big battery, a big panel, and an inverter makes a lot of sense. If you just want some light, might I suggest a solar lighting kit? Cheaper, easier, and simpler. If you want more details, check out this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...arn-about-preventing-a-drop-in-egg-production

Full disclosure: I wrote that article for BYC, and I make the solar lights I discuss in it.

I'd rather build the system I was spitballing with mark using a mr16 pigtailed to a battery and 40w solar panel hooked to the battery. I was giving advice I don't need it. If I use a system, I build every component of that I can. The reason I suggested an inverter is because full spectrum AC lighting is easier to come by than full spectrum dc. I have a healthy knowledge of electrical systems.

 

[dc3085]

I thought you needed a controller to step the solar panel down from 17 volts.let me know if it works without it, might have wasted money on one

You do need a step down of some sort or you'll roach the battery pretty quick.

You could probably use a regulator off a car alternator (pick n pull one) they don't care what the input voltage is and the output is 13v give or take

 

[marksouth]

You do need a step down of some sort or you'll roach the battery pretty quick.

You could probably use a regulator off a car alternator (pick n pull one) they don't care what the input voltage is and the output is 13v give or take 

thats a good thought

 

[marksouth]

Did a qiuck search for used car alternators and got sidetracked onto building wind turbines with used alternators. How's the wind blowing over at your place DC, LOL...

 

[dc3085]

Did a qiuck search for used car alternators and got sidetracked onto building wind turbines with used alternators. How's the wind blowing over at your place DC, LOL...

My brother and law was suggesting the same thing when he and I talked about this earlier lol

 

[SunYeti]

I'm not trying to tell specific people what to do. I was just giving general advice WRT a small solar lighting system, as you were dc (by the way, even a 3 or 4 watt LED 12V light can provide enough light for a coop if you get a good efficient one). If you have a 40 or 45 watt panel laying around, it makes sense to use that, but if you are buying one, you really don't need that much to run lights and you can save money by buying a smaller one. Along those lines, your battery will wear out much much faster with a simple cut-off type controller. And, if you don't the right controller, your battery could overcharge to the point where it heats up/starts venting Hydrogen... the car alternator regulator could work, but I would test it very carefully.

I was in Central America for a service trip, and one of the volunteers at the local organization we were partnered with had put together a wind turbine using basically scrap wood, a car alternator, some fins from a fan, and a bleach bottle (the bleach bottle was the turbine housing), and a hinge/weight on a stick to tilt and protect the turbine from high winds. He ended up having to re-wind the alternator to get the right voltage/current characterisics for local average windspeed, but in the end he had a working turbine that generated about 40 watts that he had built almost entirely from junkpiles. Really made me drool.