In a recent podcast I did with Ken from the Prepper Podcast we talked about grid down scenarios and what we will do about them. Right after that podcast I determined to build my very own DIY alpha heater portable photo voltaic generator. My plans are to construct a photo voltaic generator that may run my effectively pump in a grid down occasion, Alpha Heater blog and while this generator Alpha Heater product page doesn't have the facility to continually run it, Alpha Heater official site I have set it up to have the ability to scale up fairly easily. Keep in thoughts as you read this I am no knowledgeable, as a matter of reality I had very little information aside from photo voltaic panels gather energy, ship it to the battery and Alpha Heater product page you'll turn on a light. Now that I have done this I have a greater thought about watts, amps, volts and what makes it all work collectively. There are quite a number of article about how electricity works, and typically it’s a lot data for my mind to absorb (repercussions of a misspent youth I guess), so I'm going to keep this article a simple as doable and hopefully all of it makes sense to you at the end.
Don’t neglect to download the power needs cheat sheet at the tip, it'll help you figure out how much saved energy you want and use each day. If you would like extra info on this you possibly can hearken to the Podcast Ken and i did, or you can try just a few of the podcasts ken has executed prior to now about battery banks. A quick facet observe before we get into this: Ken will even be on the next SPTV episode talking about alternative energy. Sign up right here to get updates in regards to the show. Here is the video explaining my DIY Solar Charger. How Much Power Will My Solar Panel Produce? Minn Kota Trolling Motor Power Center: The reason I bought this box is because it had a couple 12 volt ports already wired in and able to go. I’ve seen a number of movies where individuals add equipment, but this appeared simpler… 30Amp/400Watt Solar Panel Regulator official Alpha Heater site Charge Controller: A cost controller keeps the battery from over charging and there are lots of sizes and Alpha Heater product page styles.
Like I state within the video you don’t need your solar panels to push extra energy than the charge controller can take. My 13 watt photo voltaic panel only places out about .5 Amps/13 Watts, which means I can (and can) add a couple of a hundred watt photo voltaic panels. That might bring me to 4.5 Amps and thirteen Watts, properly below the rating of the solar charger. Thunderbolt Magnum Solar 13 Watt Briefcase Solar: Alpha Heater product page Like Ken mentioned within the Podcast begin small, Alpha Heater portable be taught the method after which build bigger, so that’s what I did. Everything I purchased for this photo voltaic generator was purchased with value in thoughts, I wanted to get this performed for around $300. I also needed the power to scale up when the time came, Alpha Heater product page so everything else I bought was a bit greater. These photo voltaic panels run about $80 on harbor Alpha Heater product page freight, but I bought these on eBay for $45.
At .5 amps per hour in full sun these would take about 20 days to charge my 100 Ah battery. I wanted to ensure it labored earlier than I spent some huge cash on solar panels. Cobra 800 Watt Power Inverter: Like I mentioned, I wished the ability to add photo voltaic panels to this generator so I bought an 800 watt inverter. This was just a little costlier than a smaller one but it'll run most of my small appliances and most of my energy tools. Here's a chart that shows what number of watts a typical equipment makes use of. Milwaukee 150 lb. Capacity Folding Hand Truck: This was about $25 at Home Depot and i got this to make it a bit simpler to move around. I don’t know if I will likely be using this to go up and down stairs or drag throughout the dirt because batteries should remain upright, nevertheless it does help transferring it across the home because the battery weighs round seventy five pounds.