sqft wrote:I came across this informative video regarding putting solar components together. It seems like its something one can DIY.
It is very easy to set up once you work from output needed backwards.
For me and my 150W output (from the inverter) system, my 30A charge controller and recently upgraded 75Ah battery (from 40Ah) and 80W solar panel are working perfectly. I simply need to power TV, laptop and 3-4 very low watt LED bulbs during blackouts and the total wattage of all those devices is well below 150.
And nothing beats practical experience when dealing with solar. You can read all the manuals in the world but once you connect and start using the system, you will learn more in two days than from a month of book research and videos.
Connection is basically Solar panel to charge controller to battery to inverter to devices..which is not rocket science since you are just connecting negatives to positives and the charge controller instructions in the box tell you everything.
Almost a year in of use of this cheap but very effective back system, this is my advice to those interested in the same;
1. There are a LOT of scam compenents in the solar market. If you are naive and green you can easily get conned. Please avoid any charge controller that looks like this. They are super cheap and come in thousands of different brand names but i suspect they are all made by one Chinese conman company. I have never met person who has anything good to say about these types of charge controllers. It will go kaput within months (or even days) of use, trust me.
2. Raggie PWM charge controller at no more than 3k kshs is WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. As i have said before this thing is a workhorse! Easy to use and no issues whatsoever with it so far.
3. Get these types of inverters. They too are a blessing! Dirt cheap and very efficient. Should cost you no more than 3-4k for 300W and below. No overheating issues (they have an excellent fan) and give sweet consistent 220V output.
4.AVOID AT ALL COSTS any inverters that look like this
They are terrible and the wattage they say they deliver seldom matches. They also conk out easily
5. With batteries, even so called deep cycle solar batteries, there are no guarantees. Car batteries sometimes work even better than so called deep cycle solar batteries yet are dirt cheap. As long as you are not drawing down your batteries to less than 50% during each use, any battery works fine. I am told Wanda solar batteries are bure and Ritar are good...on this ni trial and error tu.
The Oushang panel amazes me..it works even under low light conditions so these days I just lean in on the inside part of the window and it charges my system nyweee bila shida yoyote In fact I need to switch the charge controller off for days at a time because it charges up my battery fast!
6. Keep your system mobile. Do not hammer the components to the wall unless you have a huge system powering the whole house or one floor. That way you can move it to any room you need and can also carry it on a road trip easy. Moving it is a breeze. I highly recommend battery clips (below) from charge controller to battery and inverter to battery. Makes for easy set up and movement. You just disconnect the clips..carry the battery to the other room, then the inverter, then the panel with cables connected to the charge controller and set up again in seconds.
Bottom line my mini system has paid for itself interms of convenience and peace of mind many times over. As I said the only change I have made is to add kidogo battery capacity in case a blackout lasts more than a day and so far that has not happened. In fact i have too much power for my system and am very happy with it as of now.
In the final analysis, it all boils down to sheer plain old hard work and dogged persistence. Nothing more, nothing less!!