DIY Solar Charging Station

[SWolf]

A few months ago we had a 24-hour power outage.
While the outage was not a problem, the real issue was the lack of a charging system for cell phones, tablets, and laptops.

We have a small 200watt solar array used to move rainwater around.
It was time for it to do double duty!
So I made a small charging station:

It has 2 USB ports and 1 cigarette power port
We have a small 500 watt inverter for the odd situation.
A 25-foot power cord!
I also add 2 jacks for lights leftover from an old project

The lights.

I am very happy on how it turned out!

 

[UrbanHunter]

Okay, I don't want to start a new thread but I would like to get opinions on setting up a solar backup power supply. My thinking is that I have a large shed and that I could mount some panels on the roof, put batteries in the shed, and setup an inverter to provide short term emergency power using extension cords if necessary.

I see @SWolf has a nice 200w setup (don't know what his array looks like) would love to get his view now that he has had time to use it.

Does anyone have any ideas as to the sizing and how they would go about setting something up. I am kinda of looking for a Goldilocks solution, not so big that I can't afford it, but not so small that it doesn't do any real work. Anyway I'm just asking for opinions on the subject.

 

[Neb]

Okay, I don't want to start a new thread but I would like to get opinions on setting up a solar backup power supply. My thinking is that I have a large shed and that I could mount some panels on the roof, put batteries in the shed, and setup an inverter to provide short term emergency power using extension cords if necessary.

I see @SWolf has a nice 200w setup (don't know what his array looks like) would love to get his view now that he has had time to use it.

Does anyone have any ideas as to the sizing and how they would go about setting something up. I am kinda of looking for a Goldilocks solution, not so big that I can't afford it, but not so small that it doesn't do any real work. Anyway I'm just asking for opinions on the subject.

Use a transfer switch for the critical circuits to prevent issues when the mains come back on line.

After that fifure out how big Goldilicks is and size things to fit.

Ben

 

[dademoss]

Okay, I don't want to start a new thread but I would like to get opinions on setting up a solar backup power supply. My thinking is that I have a large shed and that I could mount some panels on the roof, put batteries in the shed, and setup an inverter to provide short term emergency power using extension cords if necessary.

I see @SWolf has a nice 200w setup (don't know what his array looks like) would love to get his view now that he has had time to use it.

Does anyone have any ideas as to the sizing and how they would go about setting something up. I am kinda of looking for a Goldilocks solution, not so big that I can't afford it, but not so small that it doesn't do any real work. Anyway I'm just asking for opinions on the subject.

It all depends on your definition of "REAL WORK". 100 watts when grid is down is 100 watts you wont have without something. You want AC. electric stove, etc etc etc, the cost goes UP UP UP. You want to charge a phone and run an led light and radio, the cost is low

Decide your power requirement, then decide on a system. Mine is here:https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200773337_200773337

 

[SWolf]

Okay, I don't want to start a new thread but I would like to get opinions on setting up a solar backup power supply. My thinking is that I have a large shed and that I could mount some panels on the roof, put batteries in the shed, and setup an inverter to provide short term emergency power using extension cords if necessary.

I see @SWolf has a nice 200w setup (don't know what his array looks like) would love to get his view now that he has had time to use it.

Does anyone have any ideas as to the sizing and how they would go about setting something up. I am kinda of looking for a Goldilocks solution, not so big that I can't afford it, but not so small that it doesn't do any real work. Anyway I'm just asking for opinions on the subject.

Greetings,

My setup is small but it does what I need it to do.
I want to charge our phones, tablets and maybe watch a movie on a laptop.
It will not make a cup of coffee run fans the stove etc.

Start at your load and work backward.
EVERYTHING is based on your load.
Everything from your wire size to your charge controller, number, and type of battery you use.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thanks @SWolf and @dademoss for the links and the suggestions.

I have a couple of 1500VA UPS's that I use to keep my phones charged and the computer and internet operational. I also have 800ah@12V to supply an inverter for 1 medical appliance; all of these charge off the grid but my household appliances are not covered so I am trying to figure out what would cover me for a few days.

Based on what you have told me, everything depends on the load. I found this load calculator based on appliances (look up's) Off-Grid Solar System Sizing Calculator | Unbound Solar.
My thinking is I have some appliances that need to be preserved indefinitely but they can be rotated to ration power, so I will need to evaluate the importance of the "Load" devices.

I think I will move my planning to a spreadsheet where I can run a number of scenarios against my checkbook...

 

[Biggkidd]

Timers are a godsend when working with a micro grid. Lets things still be autonomous yet only allows so much load at a time according to how you set it up.

 

[Meerkat]

I'm out of my leaque here.

 

[viking]

After buying a 15 watt solar panel and simple controller to keep all the motorhome batteries in good condition, I found out what a huge mistake that system turned out to be. First of all the panel had a minimum amount of cells and on cloudy or rainy days there was no charge at all and even on a good sun day, the system was rally not up to snuff. I guess I had a lapse of knowledge from what AM Solar had taught me. I should have remembered that the higher the cell count a panel has, the better it will do it's job, not to mention the cheap solar charge controller was a pulse type and not an MPPT type. After thinking the system over, I realized that it should have been at least a 65 watt panel with a total charge voltage of over 20 volts with a small but efficient MPPT controller. Even small solar systems should be researched to see if they will really do the job you want done, since I started working on our solar systems, I've seen a number of other systems that are basically a waste of money and some of those were high priced package deals which, if people did enough research, people could have put their own systems together with better quality components for about the same cost. At this very moment I have a friend that bought a large package deal, probably a minimum of around 10,000 watts and it's not even being used, not even connected to grid yet so that it reduces his power bill. I am not a big fan of doing things like this, just to reduce a power bill, not to mention, if the grid goes down, without battery backup, they'll have no power when the sun goes down or on cloudy, rainy days. Without doing research, you can get stung on even a small system intended to take care of cell phone or computer batteries.

 

[Meerkat]

This book is really good for beginners,we ordered it a few years ago,

 

[Supervisor42]

I have a couple of 1500VA UPS's that I use to keep my phones charged and the computer and internet operational. I also have 800ah@12V to supply an inverter for 1 medical appliance; all of these charge off the grid but my household appliances are not covered so I am trying to figure out what would cover me for a few days.

+1 on the 1500VA UPS units.
I built a backup system system that had 5 of those that powered about 80% of our home in AL.
Added one piece at a time.
It didn't use solar but the units were so fast that the lights never even blinked in switchover.
I never had to reset a blinking clock, walk in a dark house, or worry about the refrigerator for years .
Have to boot up the main PC to share pictures.
To utilize solar, it would have only taken a simple circuit and a contactor to allow the system to "sell" power back to the house.
Logic: Battery charge at 100%> Cut AC power to UPS units> Battery charge drops below 86%> Turn AC power back on and wait for 100% level.
Backup batteries would always be between 85%-100% SOC and everything that the panels produced would get used.

Now, back to how to charge a cellphone with 'the Sun!'