Solar Baby!

[Digger[NJLP]]

Hey all, been reading up on Solar Power and I want to try it myself. I may be wrong but I seem to remember Nill may have done this himself already, but if anyone has a good resource/documentation/suggestions that would be great.

I found this page http://www.solarpowerathome.com/do-it-y ... power.html and they are recommending that the first project is to do something small, which I am on board with. And gave a link to this cute little guy.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004IG ... B004IG5A3E

But my plan is to basically add solar panels to my garage, to provide power to the garage, rather then having to install a sub panel with a line from the house.
I will need some type of battery storage, as I want to be able to run at least one power tool, radio, and lights in the garage for say two to three hours after sunset.

Garage gets direct sun across both sides of roof for the majority of the day.

Any links and or suggestions appreciated.

Thank
Diggs

[NILL]

I haven't done solar on any of my building yet, but I would recommend hooking into the grid. You panels will be constantly gathering power during the day whether you use it or not and your power tool usage will be irregular. As for your battery bank, plan on having only what you need in case of a backout. You could either buy one of those Tesla whole house battery backups or roll your own with a smart charger, battery bank, and power inverted. If you use 12v LED lights, you can even skip the inverter for greater efficiency and in case of extended back outs, have a way to charger the batteries directly from the panels.

[Digger[NJLP]]

Hey Nil, thanks for the reply.

I hear you in regard to the grid, but I am still not on board with the whole grid thing. I have talked to a few people who have gone solar with NJR and a couple of others. And most are not as happy as they were when they started. The hardware, with some companies, even the panels on the roof are not owned by you and if you sell the house, it has to include the contract for the solar and they wouldn't be able to just remove it, without having the company do the removal.

There are people who love it to, but for 2 or 300 bucks a panel, I want to try some home grown first. One site encourages solar and a wind turbine and I get good wind and solar.

Once I get through the kit and have more concrete plans I'll post.

[NILL]

I'll I'm saying is that you should have it hooked to the grid if you want enough power to do anything heavy like power tools. If you want a backup lighting solution, you can easily setup up a small panel/batter/LED lighting solution.

The DIY version where you buy the wafers and solder your own leads to them are find for small projects and educational purposes, but I wouldn't trust them for being weather proof.

I'll ask the members of my Maker Space if they have any ideas that could help you. If you want, you could come to one of our social events to discuss this with them. More than a few could talk your ear off about solar power.

[Digger[NJLP]]

Ok got ya,
To get power from the grid to the garage since its not attached, I would need to run the cable under the driveway or go aerial.
I have dual service and I considered splitting it, but the cost to have utility split it off and due to distance put a pole on the side of the yard, is just not feasible right now.

The kit is just for proof of concept, will not be for application.

Anyway I want to have battery storage for the overhead light, radio(but not a requirement), and one power tool for say three hours.
It's a big two car, so I have space for a batteries, just need to plan it out and figure out what to get.
Been looking at the deepcycles that apparently are made for solar
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... 4gtk7r9b_b

One of the kits I'm looking at
http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-Watts-Volt ... YDZ0SB02FT

And this is the one that includes the wind turbine
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZECMODU?psc=1