Until recently my propane generator was the only source of electricity for the little cabin. Now I have a small solar setup that reduces the need for the generator although it is still needed from time to time.
First, I bought a meter that tells me how much power I am using at any give time. With TV, lights, computer and internet all working I am using 132 watts.
I have two 100 watt solar panels. I will be adding one more panel soon. The panels are about 2 feet by 3 1/2 feet each.
Here are the electronics and battery box, attached to the wall behind the shower enclosure. Inside the box are two 6v deep cycle batteries. They are wired to act as a 12v battery and there is 220 amp hours of capacity. The batteries are not supposed to be discharged below 50% so that means there would be 110 amp hours available to use when fully charged.
So a little math... 110 amp hours x 12 volts = 1320 watt hours.
Since I use 132 watts, theoretically I could run 10 hours on a full charge. I usually only turn everything on for 2-3 hours per day.
The 200 watt solar panels would need to be in the sun for about 8 hours to recharge. This time of year, they won't get more than 2-3 hours of good direct sunlight per day.
The batteries are in a sealed box with a vent pipe that goes to the outside. This is needed because batteries can generate hydrogen when charging and it needs to be vented outside.
The big silver box in the photo is the inverter/charger. It turns the battery power into household current and also works as a battery charger whenever the generator is started up.
Last is the solar charge controller. The solar panels put out voltage ranging from 0 to 20 volts. The controller sends the right amount of voltage to the batteries for charging. It also displays some info such as the % battery charge.
